On Railroad Avenue, across from the Mancos Post Office, sits Deco Dessert, a go-to spot for house-made sweets, ice cream, boba tea and more since Fairlight Whritner opened her dream shop five years ago.
Whritner, a Pennsylvania native who earned a two-year culinary arts associate degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, in 2002, spent 15 years working in restaurants and other food ventures on the East Coast and in Southwest Colorado before opening Deco Dessert.
“I have always been in the culinary field,” Whritner told The Journal. “I went to culinary school and started focusing on desserts after I started working with a catering company and doing fine dining desserts. I really loved how it’s art and food together and it’s very creative. It tastes good and looks good.”
She and her husband moved to the Four Corners region 10 years ago, first living in Durango to work in restaurants and mountain bike before moving to Mancos.
“Then, I opened my own place,” Whritner said. “I always dreamed of having my own shop of some sort … it’s so joyful making wedding cakes and birthday cakes and end of the week treats. It’s just fun to be part of a celebration.”
The cafe, open Thursday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m., features house-made desserts and drinks. Regular offerings include handmade ice cream with weekly rotating flavors, French macarons, cupcakes, chocolate bonbons and bars, boba teas, espresso drinks, milkshakes, root beer floats and more. Custom wedding cakes, birthday cakes, gluten-free treats and hand pies are also available.
“I have always had a passion for food, and have done that mostly for my career, but it really is the desserts that have really felt like a good fit,” Whritner said. “I love doing artistic things as well as food things, so it really meets both passions of mine.”
Local ingredients play a prominent role whenever possible. Lavender grown at Mesa Verde Lavender appears in honey-lavender ice cream, vanilla-rose-lavender boba tea and milk-chocolate bonbons. Eggs from nearby chickens provide rich yolks for ice cream and whites for buttercream.
“So, whenever I can, I really try to incorporate local ingredients and highlight them, and it really makes a difference,” Whritner said. “If I can’t source it locally, then I get another high-quality, reputable ingredient.”
Pure cane sugar sweetens most items, and high-grade Swiss chocolate imported from Switzerland forms the base for bonbons and bars. Whritner also shared that she was trained under a chocolatier who studied at the Chocolate Academy in France.
After five years in the community, the shop draws a steady stream of familiar faces. Families stop in at the end of each school week for a celebratory treat, high school students cross the street during open-campus Thursdays and tourists discover the shop through online searches.
“I have gotten to know so many people, and like I said, being part of a joyful celebration, someone’s birthday, someone’s wedding, an anniversary … it really does make a special connection,” Whritner said. “I put a ton of love and time and thought into their cake and the decoration and what they’re thinking and what the event is. So, it really is a special connection to be able to provide that service for people. I feel lucky, it’s a very joyful job. It is a labor of love. It is definitely a lot of physical, hard work, but it is so rewarding.”
The cafe features Wi-Fi and board games to encourage visitors to sit and stay awhile.
Despite the restaurant industry’s reputation for long hours, physical demands and thin profit margins, Whritner said following her passion has made it all worth it.
“It has always been my passion, and always what I wanted to do,” Whritner said. “I ended up deciding I will try to pursue my passion. If that doesn’t work out, then I will go to plan B. … I’m glad I stuck with following my passion and giving it a shot. It’s not necessarily the most lucrative, easiest job, but it makes my days feel like they’re not work.”
She has also judged local high school culinary competitions and enjoys encouraging young people who are interested in pursuing culinary endeavors.
Learn more about Deco Dessert and its menu at decodessert.com.
