Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.
If you're keeping track, there's a fair amount of ice cream–related crime happening. Earlier this month in Washington, DC, a gunman carjacked an ice cream truck (no ice cream was taken). A month or so earlier, in upstate New York, charges were filed after a turf war broke out between Sno Kone Joe and Mr. Ding-a-Ling (those New York state ice cream vendors have inspired names).
I'd like to focus on the lighter side of ice cream. Specifically, Food & Wine's awesome Best New Pastry Chefs 2013 and their very favorite ice creams, from Pasadena to Brooklyn.
Carole's Custard: South Dennis, New Jersey
OddFellows Ice Cream Co.: Brooklyn, New York
"Carole's Custard was my favorite spot for soft serve and pretzel cones growing up. But the owners are now retired, and I work in NYC these days, so my new favorite spot is Sam Mason's OddFellows." (Mason's inspired flavors include cornbread, chorizo caramel swirl, blueberry buttermilk honey and manchego pineapple.) - Bob Truitt of Ai Fiori, New York City and the Altamarea Group
Capogiro: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
"Capogiro is an awesome gelato place. They have a huge variety of flavors, and I always like to mix a few together—coconut and hazelnut, dulce de leche and goat's milk, macadamia nut and lime..." - Monica Glass of Clio and Uni Sashimi Bar: Boston, Massachusetts
21 Choices: Pasadena, California
Black Dog Gelato: Chicago, Illinois
Nielsen's Frozen Custard: Salt Lake City, Utah
"I consider myself to be a big ice cream consumer. 21 Choices is actually a frozen yogurt shop, but they blend all their own frozen yogurt. I love it when they have the animal cracker flavor available.”
"Black Dog owner Jessica Oloroso used to just sell at small markets all over Chicago; she recently got her own space. My favorite flavor there is sesame fig."
"And Nielsen's Frozen Custard. Fun fact: Utah has the highest amount of ice cream consumers in the country. This frozen custard place is out in the middle ofnowhere. They only serve three flavors: vanilla, chocolate and one rotatingflavor, like chocolate malted almond. I always get the rotating flavor." - Stephanie Prida of Manresa: Los Gatos, California
Margie's Candies: Chicago, Illinois
"Margie's is a fantastic old-school soda fountain and candy store, and they serve thelikes of turtle sundaes in big seashell-shaped bowls—super neat. I'm old-school; I love the root-beer floats and the fudge-turtle sundae." - SarahJordan of Boka and GT Fish & Oyster: Chicago, Illinois
The Ice Cream Man: Greenwich, New York
"My all-time favorite ice cream ever is The Ice Cream Man, near my aunt's house. I always get Almond Joy. The Danish Cream is pretty darn good, too. I've been enjoying this stuff since I was a child. I even think Bobby Flay did a Throwdown there a few years back." (This is true: It was an Ice Cream Sundae Throwdown back in 2007, but Bobby's sundae won.) - Melanie Durant of Empire State South: Atlanta, Georgia
More from Food & Wine:
Best Ice Cream Spots in the U.S.
Best Burgers in the U.S.
Over-the-Top Burgers
Outrageous Hot Dogs
Ultimate BBQ Cities
Previously:
Excellent ice cream recipes
Peeps Ice Cream!
Homemade Italian Ice
The big chill – frozen treat facts
Boozy, Nutty, Buttermilk Bacon Ice Cream
Five ways to cool off this summer with ice cream
It's never too late for homemade ice cream
5@5 – Virginia Willis – Southern is a state of mind
© 2011 American Express Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.
You know I don't go out to ice cream stands that often. This is a great list, I will have to try the one in Brooklyn, New York
Best ever was the home made ice cream place in downtown Amherst, Mass, in 1975, 76. Very very rich. When you ate a bowl of their moacca (sp?) ice cream, you could see the residual butter fat coating the inside of the bowl. I've never had better. I'm hoping they are still there. Name?? I think it might have been Just Desserts, but not sure.
In Newport, Michigan, a little shop called "Dairy King." They serve an "Upside-down Banana Split" that is absolutely delicious. Everything is served in a 30 oz. cup so that every spoonful can have vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream along with banana slices, hot fudge, pineapple, and strawberry toppings. Of course, it's topped off with homemade whipped cream and a cherry! I live in New Jersey now, but would drive the 10 hours to get another one of these in a heartbeat. YUM!
Webber's Ice Cream in Farmingdale, Maine – they have made their own since 1976. Small operation still run by the same owners – very yummy!
Arathusa's Dairy in Bantam/Litchfield, CT. The coffee ice cream has little flecks of real coffee in it, and the seasonally-made strawberry ice cream uses real strawberries and tastes surprisingly real. The other flavor I've tried to date is coconut chocolate chip, also great. They have specialty cones for holding the ice cream, too, which seem to be a big seller, although I prefer to eat my ice cream in a cup.
I spelled that wrong. Arethusa. Sorry.
Down River Ice Cream, Essex and Rowley, MA. Yum!
White farms in Ipswich and Richardson's in Midleton,best around,hands down!
Best ice cream ever. In Langley British Columbia Canada, Krause Berry Farm and Estate Winery. Family run and they make their own ice cream from their own berries. Delicious.
Since ice cream is different that Custard and frozen yogurt...what kind of list is this????
and what about Kopps in Wisconsin....gotta expand out of new york and chicago????
Just an FYI for correction. Carole's Custard is thrilled to be mentioned, but is still open and run by the original owners, we have not retired–open every day, Noon-10, seasonally April-Sept. Thanks, Chef Bob Truitt for remembering us!
New England is well know as ice cream central. Fail.
known! lol
burntfur, I have lived all around the US and Peaceful Meadows in Middleboro, MA had the absolute best ice cream I have ever eaten!
They need an ice cream place in Pittsburgh
Dave and Andy's in Oakland, Mercurio's in Shadyside, Klavon's in the Strip, The Milk Shake Factory in the Southside.
Ohio has some fantastic ice cream including Graeter's and Aglamesis in Cincinnati and, my personal favorite, Handel's in Youngstown. Folks in Youngstown will stand outside in the middle of a snowstorm for that stuff!
Ohioans ARE usually pretty full of themselves. Thanks for reinforcing.
I am full of delicious ice cream. I can't really eat myself, so it would be difficult to be full of myself.
Jeni's ice cream from Cololmbus is the best ice cream I've ever had!
Jeni's is fantastic down in Columbus. Sadly I don't live in Columbus so I have only had Jeni's 3 times.
Whitey's Ice Cream – home of the first official Oreo Ice Cream, candy bar shakes and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, despite all of the bigger chains that stole the ideas. Quad Cities, IL and IA and Iowa City/Coralville, IA.
Almost everyone knows the best ice cream in the country is Blue Bell. People even have it flown in, in places where it is not available.
This half-witted article seems as if written by a sheltered ten year old trust fund spender, and is less useless than are teats on a boar hog.
Teaberry ice cream from Leiby's in Tamaqua, PA. Haven't been able to find that flavor anywhere but in that little corner of PA.
There is no mention of Jeni's Ice Cream. Jeni's is so good.
gelato is overrated, it looks good but then you realize its made with milk instead of cream and doesnt compare to custard and higher fat icecream
That's what I like about gelato. Not a big fan of creamy flavor ...um ... ~_~ ... excuse me. I have to be alone for a few minutes.
Ok, so two votes from both Chicago and New york? Maybe try a southern state, where it actually gets ridiculously hot and fuels necessity for frozen treats. My votes are for Amy's Ice Cream and Mandola's cafe (gelato) in Austin, Texas. And Katie's Frozen Custard in Hewitt, Texas (if it still exists).
Blue Bell ice cream. Any flavor. Anywhere in Texas.
You can find it anywhere in the country. Being in Texas doesn't make it taste better.
Is Denver,CO a country? How about Indianapolis,IN ?
The post says, 'anywhere in the country."
Yes, but the Blue Bell plant is based in Texas, so you could technically get a "fresh off the line" gallon of Blue Bell ice cream.
"fresh off the line" won't make it taste any better. Blue Bell is BOTL ice cream.
No, you can't. Here in Montana you can only find it at Outback Steakhouse & the Cracker Barrell restaurants (kudos to them for knowing good ice cream). If you can find it at stores outside of Texas then I envy you.
Its not any better than Dryers, I dont understand the loyalty.
I like Blue Bell, too, and have more than one container in my freezer, but would prefer they return to using cane sugar rather than High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Why?
The one and only Seduttos in Staten Island...Elizabeth Taylor's favorite. If Cleopatra loved it, no more can be said.
Yeah, but that requires going to staten island.
Tell that to the gazillion tourists who are hogging all the seats on the ferry right now!
Sounds too crowded a place for me.... ;)
Bucky's gas station.
So when was the west coast moved to Utah?
How can you miss Massachusetts? It's the ice cream eating capital of the US!
Missed the boat completely. Fenton's in Oakland and Leatherbys in Sacramento.
Leatherby's is decent at best. I am a sports coach, and a lot of my team parties take place there. If I want a cheeseburger, fries, and a scoop of ice cream ( a humongous scoop of ice cream that tastes decent at best ), I will spend $20+ on soda fountan food.
Sorry, just living in Sac and searching for decent food. Decent = good, whether it be exotic or expensive, or a simple good cheeseburger with fries. ( Squeeze inn is ovcrrated, by the way ). Sacramento is the equivalent of a food desert, in terms of diversity and taste.
So I live in NYC and have never heard of The Ice Cream Man... It's not even on Yelp! haha
That's because Greenwich (Green-Witch) is in Washington County about 3 1/2 hours north of you. Greenwich is a very small town – don't blink or you'll miss it. Don't feel bad – I worked in Greenwich for 5 years and I've never heard of it either. Must have opened after I left.
Because my comment was put into the dreaded eternal moderation–My fav-ori-te is from Del-ici-as Mic-hoa-ca-nas in my local town of Fort Smith, AR. It is owned by a local Mex-ican family (explains the hi-span-ic store name). They make all of their ice cream from scra-tch in-store using fr-esh ingr-edie-nts. They have the sta-ple-s, but will also exp-erim-ent and take sug-gest-ions for new fl-avo-rs. If the fla-vor is po-pul-ar eno-ugh, they keep it as a re-gular. They've done sp-icy cho-co-loat-e, ava-ca-do, and corn amo-ng ot-hers. My fav-orit-e is their coo-kies and cr-eam. In my op-pini-on, it is the best coo-kies and cre-am I ha-ve ev-er had. They are to-p no-tch and frie-ndly, so if you find yours-elf in Fort Smith, stop in. You won't regret it!
My favorite is from Delicias Michoacanas in my local town of Fort Smith, AR. It is owned by a local Mexican family (explains the hispanic store name). They make all of their ice cream from scratch in-store using fresh ingredients. They have the staples, but will also experiment and take suggestions for new flavors. If the flavor is popular enough, they keep it as a regular. They've done spicy chocoloate, avacado, and corn among others. My favorite is their cookies and cream. In my oppinion, it is the best cookies and cream I have ever had. They are top notch and friendly, so if you find yourself in Fort Smith, stop in. You won't regret it!
I claim this spot on behalf of all troglodytes and ignoramuses in the land of Krangoghan !
Ha! Shoved you up under your own petard, there Ganthy!
Who's on First?
Whenever I think of trailer parks, I think of Sarah Palin. Whenever I think of Sarah Palin, I think of trailer trash. Whenever I think of trailer trash, I think of tea party patriots. Whenever I think of tea party patriots, I think of nascar. Whenever I think of nascar, I think of assault weapons. Whenever I think of assault weapons, I think of trailer parks. Whenever I think of trailer parks, I think of Sarah Palin. Whenever I think of Sarah Palin, I think of trailer trash. Whenever I think of trailer trash, I think of ....
The above dimwit poster is not the real palintwit.
Oh, it's the real palintwit all right. I've seen variations of the little ditty before.
palintwit is always good for a laugh.
Which is the Palintwit that will eventually say something funny?
The real palintwit is unmercifully funny.
I disagree....tired, outdated bipartisan humor offends half, and receives "courtesy laughter" from the other half. Maybe he should next make a Richard Nixon joke about Watergate....or how about Bill Clinton sleeping around.
Vladt... Sarah Palin is the Honey Boo Boo of American politics.