Whenever possible, Tani Summers likes to do things herself.
There’s proof of that throughout the dining room of Tani’s For Dessert, the restaurant Tani Summers runs with her husband, Lloyd.
Christmas decorations adorn the walls. In the corner, three mannequins dressed as carolers are placed next to a Christmas tree. Tani Summers made the carolers out of PVC pipe.
“We go the extra mile on everything we do here,” Tani Summers said.
But her real labor of love takes place in the restaurant’s kitchen. Everything served at Tani’s For Dessert and the Summers’ adjacent storefront, Buttercream Bake Shoppe, is made from scratch.
Homemade pie crusts. Cakes and cookies baked and decorated daily. With a menu that includes everything from bread pudding and crepes to tiramisu and cheesecake, the Summers’ focus has always been on desserts — just desserts.
And while desserts still reign supreme, the Summers have decided to add a cherry on top to to a sweet tooth’s dream menu. Customers can now order wine and customizable cheese and charcuterie dishes to enjoy with dessert.
The Summers hope that the addition will bring in new clients to the dessert shop, which Lloyd Summers calls “the best kept secret in Plant City.”
Cheese and Charcuterie
How long have you been here?
Lloyd Summers estimates that he hears that question at least once per day. Located near RAOK Boutique in The Villages off of James L. Redman Parkway, Tani’s For Dessert first opened in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World two years ago.
The dessert-only restaurant has had no trouble attracting people from throughout Florida. Customers frequently include visitors from Orlando, Clearwater and nearby Lakeland and Tampa.
But customers in Plant City, Lloyd Summers said, are sometimes harder to come by.
“Once people find us, they love us,” he said. “We’re one of Tampa Bay’s only dessert-only restaurants. The problem is, we can’t reach Plant City.”
While customers frequently stop in for a sweet treat after dinner or a late snack, attracting dessert aficionados to the restaurant during lunchtime has proved a challenge.
By adding cheese and charcuterie, the couple is hoping to attract customers who may have been unaware of the
restaurant in the past.
“Everybody’s really liking it so far,” Lloyd Summers said. “The cheese and charcuterie includes dips, nuts, crackers and olives. Customers can pick which cheeses and meats they want, and it goes a long way.”
Customers can pick the size of the platter they want, as well. Meat and cheese options vary, and customers are able to choose between trays of three, five and seven different options.
Though the charcuterie options are gaining interest, dessert continues to be the restaurant’s main entree.
Edible Art
Tani Summers’ love of baking was passed down by her mother.
Growing up, Tani Summers said her family didn’t go out to eat often. When they did, her mother would always ask about a restaurant’s pie options:
Is it homemade pie crust?
If it wasn’t, Tani Summers recalled, her mother wouldn’t order it.
“Now that I’m older, I understand why,” Tani Summers said.
The Tani’s For Dessert kitchen always starts from scratch. From frostings and flavors to the cake top figurines Tani Summers places on her creations, homemade is a guarantee.
“We’re always looking for good bakers,” Tani Summers said. “Finding help is very, very hard.”
When Tani Summers’ daughter got married in 2007, she pitched in by making cakes for the bridal and groom’s parties. She also made cookie favors, which were a huge hit.
“I just came up with them,” she said. “That led into it. People absolutely loved them.”
Before having a storefront, Tani Summers sold cookies out of her home to friends, family and a few customers. Two years later, after multiple requests, she began making cakes under the name Exclusively Yours Cakes and Cookies.
Simple two-layer cakes weren’t on the menu. There was the chocolate-covered football she made out of Rice Krispies, and the cake that looked like a replica of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. Race car cakes, guitar cakes, fish-shaped cakes, tiered wedding cakes.
But the baking business grew faster than Tani Summers had expected. She found herself having to turn down order requests.
“She wanted a bakery,” Lloyd Summers said. “She’s very talented. I told her that if I could sell my business, it would become a possibility. The next day I was talking to a customer and he offered to buy it.”
Plant City residents for 23 years, the Summers wanted to stay close to home when they opened their restaurant. The Villages off of James L. Redman Parkway offered a New Orleans-style feel that the couple liked.
In addition to selling cakes and pies by the slice, the shop also serves up baked goods for bridal and baby showers and parties. Classic dishes, including cheesecake and tiramisu also are available.
“We want to let people know what we’ve got here in Plant City,” Lloyd Summers said.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.