Bits of Frozen Heaven

Ice cream. Yummmm! Who can resist licking a cone on a hot summer's day? Or in countries, like Russia, where even cold winters bring out people lining up waiting to buy their favorite ices? It is one of life's simple pleasures and even though one place may be pricey, another is not but both have delicious ice cream. Here in New York city, so many new places have come up that my list is constantly being revised so if you don't find a place, it will be added soon. Meanwhile, take a leap and try some of these places - you will enjoy every slurpy lick.

Avalanche
French style ice creams available in pints and available at Musette (19th & 20th on 3rd Avenue).

Berkshire Ice Cream
Available only in pints at Fairway, Dean & Deluca and select gourmet stores.
A farmer in Massachusetts has 200 Guernsey cows and he produces incredible ice cream. A large variety of flavors are available including coffee, vanilla, butter crunch, black raspberry and ginger, to name a few. The coffee is particularly good layered with ground hazelnuts and drizzled with chocolate sauce and a dollop of freshly whipped cream.

Bindi Ice Cream
Available at Ferrara’s on Grand Street and other Italian cafes/restaurant stores.
Imported from Italy in all kinds of intense flavors that truly epitomize the passion for Italian “gelati”.

Bischoff’s
Cedar Lane in Teaneck
A very old establishment. Good ice cream – very large portions along with large prices. Beware!

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Fulton Ferry Landing Pier, Brooklyn
Limited selection of ice creams which are tasty. Sundaes are a specialty.

The Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
Off Mott Street
Regular ice creams plus unusual ones, like red bean and green tea.

Ciao Bella
262 Mott Street (main store) and; also available in pints at gourmet stores.
Ice cream, sorbets, frozen yogurts. Especially good are the pistachio, hazelnut biscotti and the Valhorna chocolate which is just superb.

Cookies & Cream
New Paltz, New Jersey
Small selection of soul satisfying frozen confections served in freshly-made waffle cones.

Cones
272 Bleeker Street
Expensive but delicious ice cream in a myriad of flavors.

Delphi
109 West Broadway (corner Reade Street)
Greek restaurant that makes their own home-made ice cream and it is very good. Try the tri-color (vanilla, strawberry and chocolate) or the sherbet.

Eddie’s Sweet Shop
105-02 Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills
Opened some 90 years ago. Excellent home made ice cream. Recommended: banana splits, sundaes, best eaten at the counter for that “old world” feeling.

E Mack & Bolio
389 Amsterdam Avenue between 78th & 79th Streets
Boston-based ice cream. Very satisfying. People drop in by taxi from all over town to run in and pick up pints and leave. The best vanilla ice cream on the East Coast. Warning: the hot fudge sauce tends to thicken fast and then eating a sundae becomes a tug of war.

Ronnybrook Farm Diary
Farmer’s Market Union Square/Chelsea Market & gourmet stores
A variety of ice cream in all flavors including coconut, raspberry, hazelnut crunch, to name a few.

Serendipity 3
225 East 60th Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues
Frozen hot chocolate, hot fudge sundaes, strawberry sundaes (any cold dessert is superb). Note: it’s Haagen Daz, not home-made ice cream.

Shaheen
74th Street and 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights
The best kulfi i.e. Indian ice cream “heaven” on a stick – malai (full cream with cardamom), mango and pistachio.

Susan Murphy’s Home-Made Ice Cream
Spring Lake, New Jersey
Delicious – delicious – home-made nirvana. They make excellent banana ice cream which is rare to find and their own chocolate wafers that are placed on top of sundaes or you can ask them for one or two for your cone. Try the strawberry sundae – try anything – you will love it! Some years ago, I went there for 4 days and visited the store 5 times and put on 5 happy pounds as I related this to the startled owner when I returned a year later! On that day, I visited it twice and both times, it was scrumptious. I shudder to think what would happen if I lived there.