Everything you need to know about L.A.’s first Dessert Week

Imagine a week entirely devoted to dessert (just pretend you don’t do this every week). Now here’s the guy who’s going to make it happen.

Daniel Amitin, who owns a healthcare staffing and recruiting company, has a sweet tooth. About three years ago, he and his roommate started a bet: They would see if they could limit themselves to just one dessert a week. Even a single cookie or a bag of M&Ms would count. Loser would take the winner out to dinner.

Three years later, they are still going. But Amitin didn’t waste his one dessert a week on just anything — he made it his mission to try as many different kinds of dessert as possible, one week at a time. He went through a churros phase, then he experienced the cupcake craze, and currently he’s on a “red velvet kick.” Then the Dessert Week idea came to him.

“I was getting ready for work in the morning one day and was just thinking, ‘man, it would be nice to just have a month off and go crazy eating dessert,” said Amitin. “Okay, a month is too long, but maybe just a week of eating all the best desserts.”

So Amitin created Dessert Week, which will start Oct. 9 and run through Oct. 15. During that time, restaurants, bakeries and ice cream shops are encouraged to offer special desserts and/or discounts.

The list of participating vendors includes Sprinkles, Beverly Hills Beignet, SusieCakes, Coolhaus, Saffron & Rose, Diddy Riese, Hello Sweetie Pies, Frostalicious, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Cheesecake Factory, Porto’s Bakery, Wanderlust, Pie Hole, Jamaica’s Cakes, Cream, Gelateria Uli and Breadologie.

“During that time, go to your favorite brick-and-mortar, food trucks — it’s also an opportunity to try new places,” said Amitin, who encourages people to just go out and eat dessert during the week, even if it’s at a place that may not be participating.

The week will end with an actual dessert festival on Oct. 15 at Pershing Square. Tickets range from $15 to $85 and will include dessert samples from participating vendors at the event.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.dessertweekla.com.

I don’t do whipped cream out of a can. Follow me on Twitter & Instagram @Jenn_Harris_

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