In life, as with food, sometimes the biggest decisions and best flavors hinge on the smallest of incidences or ingredients. When Lachlan Oliver was traveling the world as a medic, he had no idea how the experiences he was gaining in the field would someday help him open Heaven Sent Desserts (www.heavensentdesserts.net) in San Diego. As Tina Luu traversed all over the West Coast, Europe, and Asia, little did she know that she would also find her way back to San Diego to work with him as his Executive Chef. So, how did Chef Tina and Mr. Oliver get from being a world traveling chef and medic to being the team that presented Beyoncé Knowles with her fantastical cake at her VIP party in San Diego last August less than two years after the shop opened? While Heaven Sent Desserts is very much a business selling specialty desserts and beverages, the journey towards its opening and as it goes forth into the future, is as much an emotional and spiritual journey as it is anything else. In an interview with Lachlan Oliver, he referred to the Lord Acton quote: "I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money." Chef Tina and Mr. Oliver both agree that food is more than something to feed your stomach. Food should be an experience, an event, a creation of beauty, sometimes even a road to enlightenment, but most of all food, especially dessert, should be fun. It should make you happy – create a brief respite from one’s daily concerns before going back into the real world.
History
Lachlan Oliver had a friend, a fellow medic, named Mike. He was the kind of person who tried to make what could be the worst day in your life, a little better. He played practical jokes, laughed with his friends, and sometimes used up to eight packets of sugar in his coffee. According to Mr. Oliver, Mike was known as Sergeant Sweetie. Mike also took his job as medic very seriously. Medics carry 65 pounds of equipment on their bodies, often crossing difficult terrain, as they travel from site to site helping those who have been injured during combat. When injured soldiers asked if they were going to make it, Mike told them they were either going be sent home to their families, or home to God. When it was evident they weren’t going to be going home their families -- that they were heaven bound -- he stayed with them until they died.
After Mike’s own death by an I.E.D. (roadside bomb) in Iraq, his comrades, including Lachlan Oliver, were having tea to remember him. A boy working in the shop brought some sweets over. They hadn’t ordered the sweets and turned them down, but the boy said it would make them feel better. That was the beginning of a nugget of an idea for Lachlan Oliver and his friends. You can’t avoid the difficult, hard, necessary parts of life. You have to face them. But something as small as a sweet treat can help you feel a little better so that you go back out and carry on a little while longer. When Mr. Oliver returned to the United States, he and his buddies put their heads together and came up the idea of Heaven Sent Desserts, a tribute to their comrade, Mike. They were going to make people a little happier one dessert at a time. It took a couple of years for Lachlan Oliver to woo Tina Luu to Heaven Sent Desserts in North Park. They have similar philosophies of life. Both U2 and Bono fans, they believe in doing the best they can to change the world for the better through their talents and gifts just as the band has. In fact, a special dessert, Sundae Bloody Sundae, was created in tribute to U2 and their contributions around the world. When Chef Tina drove past the location for Heaven Sent Desserts, before it had even opened, she knew she would be involved with Heaven Sent Desserts somehow, and that it would be a life changing experience.
Eat Better, Live Better
Chef Tina Luu believes in making the world a better place through creating beauty. Her path to beauty is through food, specifically desserts. In an interview with Chef Tina, when asked how she came up with her creations, she said she begins with flavor first. For example, she found out that Ms. Knowles’ favorite flavors were butter pecan and chocolate. She then considers the season of the year, as well as the layering of textures and flavors that she would like to present. She takes her inspiration from the world around her for the designs she creates. The final result with the cake for Beyoncé Knowles was an autumnal tree out of a fantasy world, complete with fruits of caramel covered with chocolate that could be plucked from the tree to eat (http://www.heavensentdesserts.net/cater/cater_beyonce.php).
When you eat good food, taking time to allow the flavors to unfold for you, enjoying the company of those around you, life becomes more than just the daily grind. When asked if the slowed economy had effected his business any, Mr. Oliver pointed out that desserts, at a minimal cost, are a treat that most people can afford after a difficult day of juggling grocery bills, gas prices and other cost of living increases. A treat can help lighten the load while they deal with these issues. One of the ways he helps lighten the load is to have Afternoon Delight, a dessert happy hour every afternoon between 3:30 and 6:30 pm. He said he and his friends also often have slow food evenings where they take time out to create their meal together and slowly enjoy it, including their desserts.
However, he and Chef Tina don’t just wait for the masses to come to them to help make the world a better place. They take their philosophies, and their food, out to others. Working with organizations such as Wounded Warriors and the Children’s Hospital of San Diego, Lachlan Oliver and Tina Luu provide time, energy, and sweet treats to those who need them most, in a sense tithing their goods to these organizations. Other community events include the Little League team they sponsor, the donation drive for the Wounded Warriors this past September, Operation Chocolate Chip (where notes and cookies are sent to troops overseas) and striving to hire students and recently graduated chefs, endeavoring to become a teaching institution in the food world (Chef Tina is also an instructor at the Culinary Art Institute of California, San Diego). Looking into the future, they also hope to someday open other locations, as well as to expand into conducting training classes. They are working to change the world, through dessert, from the inside out.
Sweet Finale
Of course Chef Tina Luu and Lachlan Oliver both have their own favorite sweet treats. Chef Tina noted that her ultimate favorite treat is always ice cream and cookies. Her current favorite at the store these days, however, is the Sundae Bloody Sundae: "A rich fudge Brownie grounded on Whipped cream, topped with Mint Ice Cream & Blood Orange Sorbet, accented with ButterScotch’d Caramel and Chocolate Sauces, Seasonal Fruit Compote and finished with Mint Pop-Rocks and a Caramel Halo." When asked about his favorite dessert, Lachlan Oliver mentioned their New Orleans Bourbon Bread Pudding, a recipe he got from a woman he helped rescue during Hurricane Katrina when he volunteered during the aftermath there. When she found out he was opening a dessert shop, she gave him her family’s recipe for the bourbon bread pudding. He tucked the recipe away for later, not thinking anything of it. Once they tried it out in their kitchens back in San Diego, however, it became his favorite and has been ever since. More information about the dessert offerings at Heaven Sent Desserts, including a history of chocolate, may be found at www.heavensentdesserts.net.
