C (5:08)

Hi, Kusha. Thanks for having me.

A (5:10)

Absolutely. So what's your favorite way to eat ice cream? Do you prefer a, a dish or, or a cone or something else?

C (5:16)

Um, I prefer either one scoop or two on a sugar cone. I know it's not very dazzling, but for whatever reason, that's my nostalgic go to.

A (5:27)

Yeah, sugar cones are classic. I love them. I know there's a great debate between cake cone versus sugar cone versus waffle cone. I feel like sugar cone is a special plate place in my heart as well and I want to get into it. We're waiting for callers to call in, but you have a whole lexicon, a whole itinerary of Places that you love to go for ice cream. I want to know right at the top, what is your favorite place in the city? Where is it to get ice cream?

C (5:51)

I have to say it's not an ice cream parlor. It happens to be Superiority Burger. Brooks Headley, who opened the larger location in the East Village, was known for desserts for most of his career. He had a vegan place in the East Village that was very small and a walk up. And now it is in the old Odessa space. You can go in there and grab a seat at the counter. And he has some dazzling flavors of gelato as well as some that might seem a little frumpy or old man, like, like Almond Joy or butter pecan or something like that. But usually they will knock your socks off. You can go in there, order the two gelato flavors for the day, and you will be thrilled. You can also get it to go if you walk to the back bar. They have different pints every week.

A (6:48)

Am I correct also in knowing about the sorbet that they offer? Or is there a history of sorbet there? A chocolate sorbet specifically.

C (6:55)

Oh, my gosh. So I did not know this, but chocolate sorbet kind of kicks ice cream's butt. It's so good, you would not even know that it's a sorbet. It's just so rich and it has this deep, deep brown color that's like sort of more chocolate than chocolate, it seems. And it just has this amazing texture. And on a really hot day for me, I tend to gravitate away from dairy based ice creams for whatever reason. And a chocolate sorbet hits the spot.

A (7:29)

That brings up an interesting question here because we were talking about sorbet, we're talking about gelato ice cream in general, there's a lot of permutations. In general, how would you define it? Ice cream?

C (7:41)

There are people who are far more knowledgeable than I am that can define ice cream. But when I think about how we sort of categorize frozen treats, there's traditional ice cream, there's gelato, and then there's soft serve, I think that it has to do with a ratio of egg yolks, or not using egg yolks and the amount of sugar and the process by which it's made. But in general, I feel like we're moving into a period where people fall in one of the genres. And then if you're a Midwesterner, there's custard, but I can't even get into custard because it's not particularly prevalent here. And I don't know, it's too eggy for me.

A (8:29)

And for this conversation, we're also including like coconut based ice cream as ice cream. Oat based ice cream as ice cream as well. So listeners, if you have a favorite ice cream spot in New York City. And I mean if, but really what is your favorite ice cream? So we probably all have a favorite ice cream spot. Give us a call, send us a text. We're at 212-433-9692. We've got some texts that I would love to read. We've got Malai and Morgensterns. One person wrote in, we've got one that says the ice cream stand at Lincoln center is da bomb. And there's two ice cream sundae emojis. Thank you so much for those emojis. I love seeing those on there. We have love love ice cream. But there's no bigger bummer than getting a pint home from the bodega only to find out it's been melted and refrozen a few times. That is a real New York City experience.

C (9:17)

Crystals. It's so sad.

A (9:20)

Do you know of any way to be able to discern which pints of ice cream at your local bodega have suffered from that melting and refreezing experience?

C (9:29)

I mean, I, for me, I have been, I've had this happen many times. I sort of look at whether the freezer door is fogged up because I feel like that's a sign of people opening it and closing it quite a lot. And then it becomes a question of the temperature fluctuations and melting ice cream.

A (9:50)

Yeah, it's hard to tell. And I think this text actually hits. It's something that a lot of New York City folk experience. So thank you for that. And then we also got a text. Timothy's in Blackrock neighborhood, Bridgeport, in incredible housemade ice cream. I'd love to go to a caller as well. This is Nikki. Hey Nikki. Welcome to the show. What's your favorite spot for ice cream?

B (10:10)

Hi, this is Nikki. Russ Fetterman from Russ and Daughters.

A (10:14)

Oh, hi. Welcome.

B (10:16)

Hello. Love, love your show Love Eater. Of course. So just yesterday Russ and Daughters and Morgan Stearns launched a, an ice cream collaboration that was, well, not 110 years in the making, but years in the making. And they are so delicious. We made three ice creams together. A chocolate babka ice cream pop sesame bagel ice cream sandwich and a chocolate covered halva ice cream bar which is not only delicious, but that One is also vegan. And so we supplied the base, the main ingredients, the babka, the cream cheese, the hala, et cetera. Morgan Stearns has, you know, put it together and they're all in sort of Russ and Daughters style old school boxes. And, yeah, they're available at all Russ and Daughters retail locations. You know, the original shop on East Houston Street, Hudson Yards, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and then at Morgensterns. And Morgensterns is also shipping them nationwide as a six pack. So you get two of each.

A (11:29)

So you can go onto the Morgan Stearns website and order it. Is that what you're saying?

B (11:33)

Exactly.

A (11:33)

Wow, Nikki, it is an honor to be talking to you right now. That's wonderful. Where did the idea for this come from?

B (11:43)

Well, Nick Morgenstern has been coming after us for some years now wanting to do this, and we finally teamed up and, you know, just, just launched yesterday. Timeout already called it the New Yorkiest dessert. And we'll have them all summer long. So it's perfect timing with this heat wave.

A (12:04)

Wow, Nikki, thank you so much. Shout out to Morgan Stearns. Shout out to Russ and Daughters. I'm gonna check those out. You know, of those three flavors, Melissa, did any stand out to you?

C (12:14)

Well, I, I'm interested in the sandwich because it feels like it's a spin on like the Italian granita on brioche. I think it's. To me, it's so great to be able to sort of skip a meal and have something like an ice cream sandwich and justify it as it's in the shape of a meal. And so I can't wait to go over there and try the sesame bagel sandwich in particular.

A (12:44)

Yeah, that sounds great. Morgan Stearns happens to be one of my favorite places in the city to get ice cream. So that was lovely to get to hear from Nikki, from Russ and Daughters about that collaboration. Folks, we're talking about your favorite spots in the city for ice cream. We're getting a lot of cool calls and texts. Join the party. We're at 212-433-9692. We're also here with Melissa McCarth, Eater editor of Eater New York, who's helping us go through some hot spots to cool down. I just made that up. I think it's decent. Let's go to. Let's go to Don in Midtown. Hey, Don. Welcome to the show.

D (13:19)

Hi. Thanks for a great show. I love this show. I listen every single day.

A (13:24)

Oh, thank you.

D (13:25)

I have a general ice cream question Many, many, many years ago. Two men. When I was a kid, I used to go to Howard Johnson's ice cream parlors in New York City in the Bronx. They were so wonderful. And my favorite flavor in the whole wide world is one of those old man flavors, butter almond. Does anybody anywhere in this city make butter almond anymore? It's a flavor that's very time consuming to make. I've made it myself and it's not easy, but, boy, I'd give anything to have some butter almond ice cream again.

A (14:04)

Don, thank you.

D (14:05)

I put it out there in case one of the listeners might know. It's probably going to draw a blank, but I figured, why not give it a try?

A (14:12)

Well, Don, we have the collective power of New York City at our disposal and the surrounding region. So hopefully. And thank you so much for that call. Melissa, I feel like you had something to say to Don.

C (14:22)

Well, I was just going to say I feel like he's conjuring the universe to make the flavor because it seems like one that could become pretty trendy. I mean, there's a, there's a sort of a butterfly going on and who does not like almond. So hopefully it will appear soon.

A (14:38)

And listeners, if you have a tip for Don, a place that you can find butter almond, give us a call, send us a text, we're here. Don, I'm sure, is still listening. 212-433. That's 212-433-WNYC. Before we go to break, I got one more caller. Amy, Upper west side. Hi, Amy. Welcome to the show. Hey, Amy there.

B (15:06)

Hi, can you hear me?

A (15:07)

Yeah, Hi, Amy.

C (15:08)

Yes.

B (15:09)

Okay. Sorry, I was, I wasn't sure what to do. Okay. So I went to a place. I was with my daughter. She's visiting a friend. I can't say exactly where it was, but in Cobble Hill, it's called Malai. M A L A I. And they had this amazing flavor, cherry black, cardamom. And a lot of their. The founder is of Indian descent, and a lot of the flavors are kind of like that. I can't give you a rundown of what they are, but it was really fabulous.

C (15:41)

Yeah. Malai is becoming increasingly popular because of its unusual flavors. And I'm so glad that you like it. And I still have to make it there myself.

A (15:51)

I have been there and I can, I can echo that. It is very good. And they have a very cool assortment of flavors. Amy, do you remember the flavor that you had that you really liked? Oh, I think we got Amy. Amy there.

B (16:04)

Yeah. Yeah. Did I say that already? I thought I did.

A (16:06)

I might not have caught it. What was the flavor that you liked?

B (16:09)

Carry Black card.

A (16:10)

Oh, that's right. Thank you so much. Sorry for making you repeat that. Thank you so much for calling, folks. We're talking about what your favorite places are in the city to get ice cream. We're here with Melissa McCart, editor of Eater New York. Give us a call. We're at 212-433-9692. I'm going to put this out there one more time for Don, one of our previous callers asking for a good place in the city to get butter almond. If you have that, we are here for you. We're going to take a quick break. Be right back. Talk some more about soft serve as well. Stay with us. This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Kusha Navadar and we are kicking off the show today by talking about your favorite spots in the city for ice cream. We're here with Melissa McCart, editor of Eater New York. And we're taking your calls. So if you have a good place to get ice cream in the city, give us a call. We're at 212-433-9692. Melissa, before we go into more calls, I want to read some texts that we're getting because a lot of them are coming in. One says regarding butter almonds. This is for Don from before the break. Lots of SOU supermarket ice cream cases have butter pecan ice cream. Not sure if that's helpful. Another one says, hey there, butter almonds may have to go down south. I love butter pecan. Don, I don't know if you're willing to go with butter pecan, but it seems like a lot of people there are saying can find that in the city. We've also got a question about vegan ice cream. And Melissa, I want to throw this to you. Are there any places that because I remember you said before the break you were really interested in sorbet and doing non dairy potentially. Do you what do you what are your thoughts on vegan ice cream places in the city for that?

C (17:51)

A lot of the indie places have almost an equal number of vegan option as non vegan options. I feel like it's something that's sort of required at this point to please everyone. And in terms of another vegan shop that's relatively new, this is a soft serve. It's the Morgensterns Banana, which is a vegan soft served only shop. Now, that location makes its space from different vegan ingredients, but it has flavors like banana and coffee creamer and salted peanut butter and this almost black midnight chocolate. And it, it's terrific.

A (18:40)

And we just got this other text that says, somebody for the love of God, tell me where the vegan soft serve ice cream is. And that's interesting. I know that. So serve had a real moment last year, a couple years ago. It seems like it's still there. Could you give us a lay down of like your favorite soft serve places in the city and if vegan is an option at any of them?

C (18:59)

Sure. In addition to, in addition to bananas, I mean a lot of soft serves tend to lean towards vegan, but there's also seed and mill in the Chelsea market that has an oat milk base. Matcha Full is also vegan or most of its flavors are vegan. Let's see, off the top of my head, that is what I know. But I think that you can generally ask in most places that vegan at this point.

A (19:34)

You had mentioned something when we talked earlier about torico. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly, but that's a local torico. That's a favorite for yours, right?

C (19:41)

I love it. I mean it's in Jersey City and it's been around since 1968. There's always a line and thankfully it's expanding. But they have the gamut of vegan ice cream, vegan soft serve, you know, straight ahead vanilla options like chocolate, cherry and then UBA and sesame and things like that. It really runs the gamut for that one.

A (20:11)

Wonderful. So hopefully some of those suggestions could work for the person who texted us about about vegan soft serve. Let's get into some calls. Let's start with Jennifer Watchong, New Jersey. Hi Jennifer, welcome to the show.

B (20:24)

Hi. So ever since my husband, he's from Staten island, he brought me to Ralph's Italian Ices. They are been around since 19 and they have not only Italian ices but they also have sherbet, sugar free ice cream and twisters. And my favorite is caramelada which is more of a sherbet and vanilla chip and coconut. And then if you go for the traditional Italian ice, I highly recommend the watermelon. It's really refreshing.

A (20:58)

Ooh, watermelon is really nice.

B (21:01)

Yeah, great. And it's all obviously so homemade. Luckily they've expanded from Staten Island. They're all throughout Long Island, Queens and even New Jersey. Thank God, because that's where I'm living now. So it's our go to half of the fun is waiting on the line and just checking out. They have a great wall murals outside and usually inside the shop. So it's a good time.

A (21:27)

Nice. Jennifer, thank you so much for that call. Let's go to John in Harlem. Hey, John, welcome to the show.

D (21:33)

Hey, how's it going?

B (21:35)

Hey.

D (21:37)

Yeah, I'm from New England so I'm actually obsessed. We're like ice synthetics there. I live in New York though. And in Harlem there are two cool places. One's aver Lily and they make ice cream or gelato, I guess, and also baked goods that are really fantastic. The owner makes these gorgeous cakes, but they have bonkers good gelato and also dairy free options. My favorite are dairy free ones like fruit flavored ones. And then there's also Cherry Hill Creamery which is like again like pastry chef couple that make ice cream at a high level and they collaborate with other restaurants to make cool flavors.

A (22:16)

Wow, John, thank you so much for that. Sugar Hill Creamery. Melissa, that's, that's a very popular one, right? Have you been there before?

C (22:22)

It really is, yeah, it's always, it's, it's always on our list every year. We, we love it.

A (22:28)

What do they do particularly well, in your opinion?

C (22:31)

I mean, I go there for a straight cone. I think that there's, there's probably an ice cream aficionado who goes, who goes more broad in their orders. But I tend to go for how's their vanilla, how's their chocolate? Is it better than everybody else? Because those are the basis, you know, the basis in terms of how, how a place makes ice cream. And those are both spectacular.

A (22:55)

That's an interesting point because there it is so subjective what the best ice cream is per palate. But trying to find an empirical way to grade it, I guess, or to put one place against each other for you. You had mentioned before the break that chocolate sorbet beat out a lot of other chocolates you've tasted. Where do you go for your favorite chocolate? Do you have a specific go to place for chocolate?

C (23:18)

I mean, I, well, I go to Torico in Jersey City. I also dabble in chocolate gelato and I'll go to old school places like Ferrara because there's nothing like that whole vibe there. It's just super fun. But I also like Gelateria Gentile which has four different locations and boy is there chocolate gel. Terrific. Somebody earlier had mentioned Italian ices. I like its cousin Granita quite a lot. It's very, very refreshing. And Gentile has unusual flavors like say.

A (23:58)

Cantaloupe Cantaloupe is delicious. Let's. Let's read some more texts here. We've got one that says two places if they haven't been mentioned, one by me in Dumbo, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, and Krish's in Massapequa. And we've also got another collar that I'd to pull down, Rupa, who's also in Brooklyn. Hey, Rupa. Welcome to the show.

B (24:20)

Hi. Thanks for having me.

A (24:23)

Hi. Go ahead.

B (24:26)

So I'm in Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn. Totally agree with Melissa. My family's favorite gelato and sorbet in the city are at Superiority Burger, but that's not always easy to get to. And our favorite after that is in our neighborhood, Carroll Gardens. It's called Dolce Brooklyn. They make the creamiest, dreamiest dilati and sorbetti. And I don't know if my kids want to get on the line here. Do you want to share what your favorite flavors are there? All right. They're feeling shy, but hands down, the best sorbet is strawberry basil. It is out of this world. Delicious. I have been known to eat, like, seven cups of it at a time. It's so good, I've never seen anywhere else. The texture is impeccable, and it's just. Just the perfect balance of, like, tart and herbal. And for the gelato, they make an amazing mint stracciatella. It is light years beyond any other mint chip, and they have really great flavors like chestnut and hazelnut and mascarpone and lots of fruit flavors. But the gelati are also so creamy and wonderful. And they're in Carroll Gardens in the old milk maze space, which was our favorite before they.

A (25:39)

Nice. I'm pausing there. Thanks to you and to the little buddy that you have with you. I hope you both get to enjoy some more of that strawberry basil. Let's go to Irene in Staten Island. Hey, Irene. Welcome to the show.

B (25:51)

Hi. Thanks. I'm calling in regard to the melted and refrozen containers of ice cream. And how can you tell?

A (26:00)

Wonderful.

B (26:01)

Yeah. Well, the first one, obviously, is never buy a container where you see the ice cream on the outside of the container. So look at the top. That. That's the first thing. And second thing, check if the container has a layer, a thin layer of what looks like frost or snow on it from the outside. You're just looking at it. If it has that layer of frost.

C (26:25)

Do not buy it.

B (26:26)

That's a telltale sign that it was melted and refrosted.

A (26:29)

Nice. So we've got frost on the Outside, we've got ice cream on the rim. Yeah. Thank you so much. We got just a couple minutes left in the segment. I want to get to two more callers. Jenny in Pine Bush, New York. Hey, Jenny, welcome to the show.

B (26:41)

Good morning. So I have two things to talk about. Boice Dairy, B O I C E Dairy in Kingston, New York has the most delicious, texture wise and flavor wise, soft serve on the planet. I drive 30 miles to Kingston just to get their soft serve. They also make their own ice cream, which is delicious. And in the butter almond. Question. Breyers used to make delicious butter almond ice cream, which they are now, however, calling a frozen dairy dessert. And it is nothing like ice cream and a huge disappointment. So those are my two offerings.

A (27:22)

Jenny, thank you so much. Really appreciate that. Let's go to one more caller. Chetunna. Let me see if I got that right. Chetunna in Queens. Did I pronounce your name right?

B (27:32)

Yes.

A (27:32)

Wonderful. What's your recommendation?

B (27:37)

Well, in Queens, in Flushing, there's a place called Max and Minnie's and they make any flavor you want, a specialty flavor, and you can order it from them. So I'm suggesting he can get his butter almond ice cream.

A (27:53)

Oh, wonderful. Do you have a specific flavor that you especially like?

B (27:58)

I like peanut butter chocolate.

A (28:00)

Oh, nice. Wonderful.

C (28:02)

That sounds so good.

A (28:04)

Thank you so much for calling, Melissa. That sounds so good. Tell me. We're wrapping up. We got like a little bit more than a minute left here. Of all the callers that you heard, did any flavors specifically stand out to you?

C (28:18)

I mean, now I'm going to be on a summer butter almond hunt. So that's the one that I'm kind of like. I feel like almonds are having a moment because there are so many Sicilian restaurants that have been opening up and there's sort of like a sourcing issue of like, who can have the best almonds. So now I'm, I'm certain that I will be able to track, track it down and, and, you know, let people know this actually exists. And I can't wait to try it.

A (28:49)

And you know, we have 20 seconds left. So very quickly, have you ever gotten something from a Mr. Softie truck?

C (28:55)

Of course.

A (28:56)

And what is your go to flavor from the Mr. Softee truck? You have, you have 20 seconds here.

C (29:00)

Okay. I love anything with magic shell.

A (29:02)

What is magic shell? Is it with the chocolate on the outside?

C (29:05)

Yeah, it's that hard that that chocolate that hardens as soon as it hits the cold. I just think it's awesome. Even though it's probably not very good for you.

A (29:13)

That's Wonderful. Well, Melissa McCart is editor of Eater New York. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. And everyone just want to say thank you so much for your tips and your tricks. And Melissa, Happy Ice Cream Summer to you.

C (29:26)

Thank you. You too. Thanks for having me on, Cusha.

A (29:28)

Absolutely. I'mma put you on, nephew. All right, unc.

B (29:33)

Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?

A (29:35)

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps. What's a snack wrap? It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.

C (29:46)

Hey, hate to do this. Could we reschedule our morning hike?

B (29:50)

I was just about to ask the same next week. Yes, it's Dunkin Original Blend time. Staying at home with Duncan. Don't mind if I do.

A (29:59)

The home with Duncan is where you want to be.