For our interview today with Dani Johnson, owner of Key West's Better Than Sex dessert shop, which opens tonight, we got into the missionary position and sniffed out some amazingly mouth-watering deserts:
Q. Pump-In Pie - Missionary Crisp - Pop My Cherry Cheesecake - Tenderness Tort - Jungle Fever - Naked Nut - Cheese Voyuer (a reference to "The Joy of Sex"), and the Better Than Sex Cake... which came first, the name of the restaurant or the titles of the dishes?
A. The name came before the titles. I have a passion for baking, which was passed down from my mother. My husband [co-owner Len Johnson, local radio host] and I have been married for six years, together for 12, and he often would request that I make something sweet. At a Valentine's Party two, three years ago, I had a lot of friends come up to me after eating the desserts, saying, 'You should do this for a business.'
Q. When did the theme, the sex theme of the dishes, come along?
A. I don't know. But you know, the name: a lot of our friends and non-friends were concerned with our name choice... you know what? It's built-in marketing, built-in advertising. But people are shy-- it makes them giggle, they're not all going to be comfortable with it, so it's a challenge. The idea is, when you call your place 'Better Than Sex,' people will keep coming back until they find a dessert that lives up to our title.
Q. Besides the desserts, is anything else sex-themed?
The restaurant is completely decorated in an eclectic/romantic theme. We're not going for the trashier side of sex, we're going for the sexier, more romantic side. It's all mismatched glassware and plates, for one thing. My husband is a radio DJ and personality-- Sexista, that's his title; I'm the Master Baker. We'll also have a small retail market and we'll have our name embroidered on t-shirts...
Q. Are you going to have theme nights or something?
Oh yes. One theme night is gonna be: if you come in a robe and slippers on Hugh Hefner Night, you get 20% off.
Q. When do you open tonight?
Six o'clock. "Sex at Six" is what we're calling it.