Exclusive: Remember The Dessert Place? It’s back.

The closed Atlanta dessert institution just made a comeback
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The Dessert Place's cream cheese brownies.
The Dessert Place’s cream cheese brownies.

Photograph by Jamie Hopper.

When I was a kid, The Dessert Place was an Atlanta institution. It was where my mom would go when she wanted a special cake for company and where my parents took my sister and I for treats. When you walked into the Buckhead location (where Buckhead Atlanta now resides), a long glass display case full of every homestyle dessert you could ever crave welcomed you. My parents would let us choose something—mom always got the carrot cake—and I always went for either something chocolatey or for the cream cheese brownies. I would eat it off a plate with a cup of steamed milk my mother fooled me into thinking was a real cappuccino. When The Dessert Place closed in 1996 after nearly two decades, Atlanta lost a dessert powerhouse, and I lost a fond piece of my childhood.

Rewind to last winter when Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit opened in Virginia-Highland. I was grabbing a biscuit (well, more like two biscuits) and on the counter was the most curious sight: a platter of cream cheese brownies with a sign in that tell-tale burgundy cursive font reading “The Dessert Place.” I immediately snatched up that brownie, and it was just as rich and luscious as I remembered. What did that sign mean? Was my childhood favorite finally coming back?

Fast-forward to today, when I discovered that The Dessert Place has been officially revived by Marisa Meddin, the daughter and goddaughter, respectively, of owners Sheryl Meddin and Bennett Frisch. With their blessing, Meddin restarted their business by remaking one of their most popular items: the cream cheese brownie. Marisa uses the same worn paper recipe her mother hand wrote years ago for every batch of brownies she makes.

The Dessert Place
Sheryl Meddin (left), Marisa Meddin (middle), and Bennett Frisch (right).

Photograph by Jamie Hopper

For now, Meddin has an online store that sells the cream cheese brownies in both regular and gluten-free varieties, and she also sells them at a few places around town. Limited quantities are available at Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit and at Marisa’s godfather’s Buckhead salon, Michael Burton Colors. The cream cheese brownies are also available for same-day delivery from Postmates and soon, UberEATS. You can also place an order directly on the website for pick-up.

As for other Dessert Place favorites, Marisa is toying with the idea of making the popular thumbprint cookies and “Puffins,” a cakey muffin dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. While she has no plans to open a brick and mortar location anytime soon, she says she wouldn’t rule it out. For now, you’ll just have to get your brownies delivered. There are worse things in life.

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