Beyond Twizzlers

An old-fashioned candy finds a new role in South Food and Wine Bar’s licorice parfait.

Jan Newberry

Licorice is having its moment. Call it the new green tea—it’s the latest unexpected flavor to turn up on dessert menus. But for Luke Mangan, chef and co-owner of the new South Food and Wine Bar, licorice is hardly a trend. He’s loved it since he was a kid. And he’s been using it to flavor this delicate frozen parfait since 1999, when he started serving it at his restaurant Salt in Sydney, Australia. His technique is to slowly melt Darrell Lea Soft Eating Licorice (“It’s the only one I use,” says Mangan. “It’s the best”) in cream before folding it into an egg-yolk base. The addition of lime—not an obvious accompaniment, but the chef’s clear choice after experimenting with everything from pineapple to orange—turns out to be, in Mangan’s words, “the perfect marriage.”

SOUTH FOOD AND WINE BAR: 330 TOWNSEND ST., S.F., 415-974-5599.