The elegance of Ferneau easily carries over to its dessert menu.
   There is no printed list of sweet selections. As the diner enjoys a succulent dinner (mine consisted of warm brie with caramelized onions followed by Ahi tuna over rice with a cilantro ginger dressing), he is forced to wait for the server to reel off the particular evening's desserts.
   "We change our desserts nightly," says owner and chef Donnie Ferneau, who opened his Little Rock restaurant in December 2004. "Our menu rotates; none of it will disappoint."
   The night we went, featured desserts included Tahitian vanilla bean cheesecake made with an Oreo cookie cake, chocolate fondue with seasonal fruits, pecan-and-brown-sugar bread pudding served with peaches and Canadian maple syrup, chocolate creme brulee and bananas Foster -- bananas caramelized with rum, accompanied by vanilla ice cream. Strawberries, peaches, apples and bananas were also available for the more calorie-conscious. These choices were among the second dose of sweetness that night; before the main course was served, we each were treated to a petite, palate-cleansing bowl of lemon sorbet.
   We tried the creme brulee and the bananas, both Ferneau specialties. Ferneau, who has been making bananas Foster since he moved to Little Rock in 2001, says he is now known for the dish.
   "I did a French recipe -- it's my recipe -- and it's been compared to, of course, New Orleans bananas Foster," Ferneau says. "It's a banana flambe with rum and brown sugar. It can feed two, three or four people. It's enormous. If you can knock off one of those by yourself, it's impressive. It's a big dessert, but if you're going to do it, you're going to do it right."
   Thanks to our decision to sit outside on the restaurant's patio, the approximately 6-to-7 ounces of ice cream melted quickly, turning the dish into something more like a banana soup. The dessert was served with two to three bananas chopped into bite-size pieces, and regardless of the heat, the comfort food-like taste was left intact. The hint of rum was apparent, though only slightly so -- just enough to give it a little kick without saturating the flavor with alcohol. A chocolate wafer stick adorned the plate.
   The chocolate creme brulee is available for about a week out of every month, Ferneau says, because it is prepared ahead of time, as are the cheesecakes and cobblers.
   "With the brulee, we make our own vanilla extracts; we don't do any shortcuts," Ferneau says.
   The creme brulee was served at room temperature, tidily fitting into a small bowl. A cherry sat atop the caramelized crust, and the chocolate custard beneath had the consistency of a light, fluffy mousse.
   There is no one pastry chef at the restaurant. Ferneau emphasizes that he likes having all four chefs -- including himself -- involved with desserts to increase variety.
   The "fondue" is actually an eggless brownie batter, served cold and uncooked with seasonal fruit for dipping, because when Ferneau bakes brownies, he "likes the batter better than the brownies." He says his favorite dessert would be the bread pudding because its ingredients always change.
   "The flavor is what I come up with on the way to work," he says. The week before his brown sugar pecan version, he was serving a blueberry white chocolate pudding complemented by white peaches.
   Dessert prices range from $6 to $8. However, Ferneau warns, "I might get a little crazy sometimes and have a $10 dessert, but it will definitely feed two to three people."
   Ferneau, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock; (501) 603-9208 ; www.ferneaurestaurant.com. Open 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Just Desserts sorts through the sugar and spice.

This story was published Friday, August 04, 2006