SCREAMING FOR ICE CREAM-Five of the best places to score the cold stuff (NY PRESS)

Nothing says summer like an ice cream cone melting down your wrist. A scoop or two will turn any dour adult into a squealing child, and it’s no coincidence that ice cream is the most commonly cited comfort food among both sexes. Ice cream epitomizes easy pleasure. But there’s no reason to settle for average, tasteless glop or hard supermarket fare when New York is home to some of the best homemade ice cream around.

Il Laboratorio del Gelato on the Lower East Side is the place to go when you’re craving some black sesame in your life. If you’ve never had such a craving, it’s probably because you’ve never tried it. Owned by the founder of Ciao Bella, this tiny, immaculate, white shop is truly a lab for creating unique and unusual flavors of gelato—the Italian version of ice cream that’s frozen at a lower temperature and made from whole milk instead of cream. Their flavors change daily, so you can never be totally sure what you’ll get. The milk chocolate tastes like frozen hot cocoa. The malt is like a box of Whoppers and the green tea has the subtle bitterness of powdered matcha tea. Skip the blackberry, mint chip and vanilla; all are a bit too prosaic, especially when there are so many other exotic and delicious options. The fruit sorbets are robust and potent, though a little too icy for my taste. Tangerine has a concentrated citrus punch with just a tad of bitter zest. Honeydew is fresh, sweet and juicy, and the black grape actually tastes like a bunch of grapes, not “purple flavor.” The shop sits adjacent to the Tenement Museum, and you can bet that none of the building’s former residents would ever have imagined a gourmet gelato shop squatting next door.

Australian Homemade looks like it should be selling snowboards or sunglasses, but don’t let the surfer decor turn you away. Their ice cream is rich and creamy, and their sorbet is silky smooth. Their pear sorbet perfectly captures the taste and texture of a ripe pear, and the lychee flavor is like eating a bowl of the cold, juicy fruit. Their chocolate ice cream is a rich, dark chocolate, and the macadamia crunch is a more sophisticated pralines and cream. They also sell gourmet chocolate bon bons if you feel you haven’t indulged enough. The shop is right next to Tompkins Square Park, which makes it a perfect place to grab a cone to take on a stroll.

If you’re looking for some good old-fashioned American ice cream, check out Ronnybrook Farm Dairy in the Chelsea market. All their ice cream is made from fresh premium milk and cream that is produced in small batches at the Ronnybrook Farm Dairy in Ancramdale, N.Y. This is the best place to get the classic, hard, creamy ice cream of your childhood. But stick to the basics: vanilla or chocolate. The “Hudson Valley Vanilla” has a strong flavor of real vanilla bean, not just a cheap flavoring, and “Sid’s Chocolate Silk” is the perfect balance between milk and dark chocolate. The other flavors are all a bit too sweet or a bit too mild. The shop itself is an odd combination of farm kitsch and fluorescent-lit utilitarianism, so it’s best to take your scoop to go.

If straight up vanilla or chocolate just doesn’t do it for you, walk a few hundred feet to L’arte del Gelato (formerly Jimmy’s Gelato), a tiny stand hidden in the back of the Bowery Kitchen Supply. They make fresh gelato everyday, and it’s real Italian-style: each tub is topped with the flavoring ingredient (fruit, chocolate, coffee, etc.). Try the dark chocolate with chili pepper and get ready for some Aztec heat. The coffee tastes like a good cappuccino and the coconut is fruity, smooth and flavorful.

Cones is conveniently located a few doors down from Murray’s Cheese Shop, Amy’s Bread and Faicco’s Pork Shop in the West Village, making it the perfect place to get a snack when picking up a few gourmet goodies. The glass-fronted shop has an ’80s futuristic look, complete with large, fading light-box photos of grotesquely ornate sundaes and ice cream cakes. Thankfully, the gelato they serve doesn’t resemble the photos. The zabaglione is addictive and tastes exactly like a colder version of real zabaglione—rich egg custard with sweet Marsala wine. The Mate tea tastes like bubble tea without the tapioca pearls. Corn has the flavor of sweet, canned corn and the strawberry is pleasantly fragrant and tangy. Their chocolate, vanilla and coffee are all solid renditions of these classic flavors.

Though these five shops may be cursed with bad lighting and bizarre décor, each one offers a little taste of pure, unadulterated, frozen pleasure. And who sits in an ice cream store anyway? Ice cream cones are the most mobile of foods, meant to be eaten while strolling down the sidewalk on a hot summer afternoon, or perched on a park bench on a warm summer evening. So take your favorite flavor on the road—before it melts.


Il Laboratorio del Gelato
95 Orchard St. (at Broome St.)
212-343-9922


Australian Homemade
115 St. Marks Pl. (betw. 1st Ave. & Ave. A)
212-228-5439


Ronnybrook Farms Dairy
75 9th Ave. (at 16th St.), in Chelsea Market
212-741-6455


L’arte del Gelato
75 9th Ave. (at 16th St.), in Chelsea Market
212-366-0570


Cones
272 Bleecker St. (at Morton St.)
212-414-1795

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE-Sinus-clearing at Grand Sichuan (NY PRESS)

Grand Sichuan NY flirts with the feel of a suburban Chinese restaurant. Order from the “American Chinese” menu and the fantasy is complete. But order from the Sichuan half and your tingling taste buds will shake the reverie and plunk you down into Sichuan province (or at least, into one of the best Sichuan restaurants in New York). Part of the citywide Grand Sichuan empire, this modest Murray Hill branch stands a step above, even though it often falls into the shadow of its better known Chelsea sibling.

Since it’s not a destination restaurant (though it should be), you never have to wait in line. The crowd ranges from large groups of noisy Chinese men to middle-aged couples eating egg rolls and lo mein. The staff is friendly and attentive, but don’t expect them to explain the menu. It’s best to jump in blindly, which happily tends to work out.

Many Chinese restaurants purport to serve Sichuan dishes, but few prepare them the way they’re supposed to be made—laden with chilies and infused with the tongue-numbing smokiness of the Sichuan peppercorn. Chinese Five Spice, a fragrant mixture of star anise, cinnamon, fennel, cloves and the aforementioned peppercorn, is another favorite seasoning. Throw in some ginger and garlic, and you have a good sense of the pungent flavors of Sichuan food. Beware: It’s not for the timid.

Begin by sampling the whole spinach with fresh ginger sauce ($6.25), or the cucumber with fresh garlic ($6.25). Both dishes are served cold and offer a nice refreshing start to a spicy meal.

When ordering the main course, the path diverges in two—hot pot or an assortment of entrees. Hot pot is a wonderful dish when group dining. A large boiling pot of liquid is brought to the table and set on a gas range. You then order a variety of ingredients, which will all be cooked at the table. I suggest ordering the “half and half” pot—it’s the perfect yin and yang of cooking liquids. The pot is split in two—one side is chili oil seasoned with Five Spice, the other is a mild clear broth. For a group of four, seven to eight dipping ingredients is a good number.

Next you pick from meat (called “pork” on the menu), seafood ($6.25 an item) or vegetables ($3.00 a plate): the thinly shaven beef and pork cooks almost instantly and melts in your mouth; the dried Chinese sausage has a sweet, fruity flavor and the yolk of the tiny quail eggs turns molten in the broth; the fish balls have a nice, firm texture and subtle fish flavor; the Napa cabbage and pea shoots turn sweet when cooked, and the black fungus, a slippery and slightly crunchy mushroom, is a novel textural contrast. Other options include sliced lamb, beef balls, sea cucumber, shrimp, squid, clam, tofu, bamboo shoots, loofah, spinach, leek and winter melon.

If you’re feeling courageous, try the pork kidney, duck tongue, pork intestine or the truly mysterious “Luncheon Meat.” Choose a few dipping sauces ($1.95 each) like the garlic sauce, which is made from fresh-grated garlic and sesame oil, or the Sha Cha sauce, a spicy and fishy barbecue sauce. Ordering rice is a wise investment. Hot pot often feels like a feast, but on a recent night with three friends the dinner totaled $14.50 per person, including tip. There’s nothing better than a cheap gustatory extravaganza.

Even if you choose to forego the hot pot route, you won’t be disappointed. Braised beef fillet with chili sauce ($10.95) features thin, velvety slices of beef, simmered in chili oil, garlic and peppercorns, resting on a bed of cooked Napa cabbage. The tangy spice is addictive. For a milder dish, try the double-cooked pork with sweet bean sauce ($9.95) or the Guizhou spicy fresh chicken ($12.95). Both dishes are slightly sweet. Any chicken dish can be ordered with “fresh” chicken, which means freshly killed. Choose that.

Ma Po Tofu ($8.95), a classic of Sichuan cooking, is a comforting and tender tofu dish topped with chili oil and ground pork. The sautéed and dried string beans with minced pork ($8.95) is made from long, thin, Chinese-style string beans that are cooked to a chewy perfection. Sautéed pea shoots ($12.95) are mild and fresh.

Though you may not want to eat here before a hot date, a visit never fails to clear the sinuses or wake up the palate. Just make sure you have a beer or cup of tea in hand before you start. You’ll need it to extinguish the flames.


Grand Sichuan NY

227 Lexington Ave. (betw. 33rd & 34th St.)

212-679-9770