My love for ice cream/gelato knows no bounds; through wind, rain, snow, heat, and cold you will find me devouring ice cream and gelato. I mean seriously… who doesn’t love an icy delight? With summer fast approaching, here is a list of my favorite places in the city to satisfy my cone cravings.
Ice Cream:
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory: With a 28 year history, this small ice cream shop serves up thousands of scoops a week satisfying the throngs of tourists and residents of Chinatown. Choose from a dozen different sorbets and regular or exotic flavors. The cherry pistachio, durian, black sesame, coffee brandy, and watermelon flavors are to die for. The line may be long, but it’s definitely worth it.
65 Bayard Street (between Mott and Elizabeth Streets)
Blue Marble: Made in small batches on a farm in the Hudson Valley, Blue Marble uses organic grass-fed dairy and sugar to make their delicious icy treats. With flavors devoid of artificial colorings and flavorings, this is ice cream at its best: simple and delicious. The maple, strawberry, butter pecan, green tea, cinnamon, and pistachio almond are out of this world.
2 locations in Brooklyn: Boerum Hill (420 Atlantic Avenue) and Prospect Heights (186 Underhill Avenue)
Van Leeuwen: Finally, Van Leeuwen expanded past their ice cream trucks and opened a bricks and mortar shop on the edge of Williamsburg/Greenpoint! Sophisticated ice cream with premium ingredients (pistachios from the slopes of Mount Etna, whole vanilla beans from Papua New Guinea, and organic peppermint from Oregon), Ben and Peter Van Leeuwen have perfected artisan ice cream. Not to be missed are the pistachio, earl grey, mint chip, and red currant ice creams! Their ice cream truck is usually parked on Prince or Wooster in Soho if you can’t get to Brooklyn.
632 Manhattan Avenue (at Nassau Ave)
Ronnybrook Dairy/Milk Bar: This upstate dairy has set up shop in the Chelsea Market with delicious ice cream, fresh from the utter milk, and a wide variety of lunch options (think free range chicken sandwiches, cucumber yogurt soup, bulgur salads, etc). Check out the ginger creme brulee, pistachio, pumpkin, coffee, and coconut flavors.
75 9th Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets) *in the Chelsea Market
Emack and Bolios: With a wide range of flavors and options: yogurt, smoothies, nonfat, kosher, no sugar added, sorbet, and even soft serve, this place is great for kids and adults! My favorites are the berry sorbets, the peanut butter cup ice cream, and caramel pecan ice cream!
3 locations in the city: UWS (389 Amsterdam Ave), Soho (73 West Houston St), and Chelsea (56 7th Avenue)
Sundaes and Cones: With friendly service and funky flavors, Sundaes and Cones has ice cream down pat! This independent and affordable shop specializes in Asian flavors delighting even the most skeptical ice cream connoisseur (taro root, ginger, red bean, lychee, wasabi, amongst others). They also make custom ice cream cakes and have delicious coffee (did someone say affogatto?).
95 E 10th Street (between 3rd and 4th Avenues)
Cones Ice Cream Artisans: Artisanal ice creams made from scratch on the premises, this cash only place has an amazing variety of flavors (their passion fruit sorbet, blackberry sorbet, tiramisu gelato, and zabayone are not to be missed), but beware the crazy hours (opens in the afternoon) and sometimes rude service.
272 Bleecker Street (btw 6th and 7th Avenues)
Uncle Louie G’s: Ok, so it’s a franchise, and its logo has an old man with a serious moustache waving his finger at you, but this ice cream/italian ice joint has great flavors and fun names (lick me lemon, chocolate dream, pistachio nutz, orange dream, cherry chip explosion, to name a few).
Multiple locations in Brooklyn and Staten Island, 2 in Manhattan, and 2 in Queens.
Gelato:
Grom: This popular Italian Gelateria has landed stateside infusing their artisan gelatos with top quality products from around the world. Their product list includes not only gelato, they also have sorbets, frappes, and granitas! Hopefully you won’t have to wait in their sometimes ridiculous lines (I once waited 45 minutes… I know, ridiculous!), but my personal favorites are the te verde (green tea gelato), stracciatella (similar to chocolate chip), zenzero (ginger), pompelmo rosa (ruby red grapefruit), and limone (lemon).
Multiple locations in Manhattan: UWS (2165 Broadway), West Village (233 Bleecker Street), and Time Warner Center (1796 Broadway)
Il Laboratorio del Gelato: This little storefront with a window counter on the LES does not mess around; the list of available flavors is enormous, and this place is the absolute bomb! Handmade in small batches, they source local and organic ingredients whenever possible right on site (you can peek into the operation when ordering). With almost 200 flavor combinations, it may be hard to choose! My favorites are the fresh mint, black mission fig, lemon verbena, mexican cinnamon, amaretto crunch, concord grape, and watermelon.
95 Orchard Street (between Broome and Delancey Streets)
L’Arte del Gelato: Created by two Italians on a mission to create something delicious, this gelateria brings you the classic favorites while also rotating new and interesting flavors. Check out the chocolate chili, nutella, ginger, green apple, and fig flavors!
3 locations in Manhattan: West Village (75 7th Avenue), Chelsea (75 9th Avenue), and Lincoln Center from May- September *weather permitting (Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center Plaza)
