Marc's Cheese Cake, Clifton

Don't try to order a cherry cheesecake in December from Marc's CheeseCake. The shop uses only fresh Bing cherries in its recipe, so it's by necessity a seasonal treat. The same goes for a variety of other fruit options, but fortunately, the menu of more than 30 flavors ensures that there's always a dizzying array of choices.

The shop is as choosy about its other ingredients as it is about the fruits. The dairy comes from New Jersey. The cream cheese is—naturally—from Philadelphia, and the chocolate gets imported from Belgium. The resulting cakes are rich, creamy, and full-bodied but a little less dense than traditional New York cheesecake, making them better chess opponents. They're sold fresh and whole, but if your sweet tooth won't let you wait to get home, you're in luck. In the spring of 2014, Marc's started making its own ice cream for guests to enjoy at a couple indoor tables or out on the sidewalk patio. Flavors have grown to include such varieties as Burnt Brown Sugar, Honey Rosemary, and Pretzel Logic to go along with the more traditional vanilla, chocolate, and Cookies and Cream.