Morgenstern's Tour Pine'Our soft serve: One of my favorite chefs, Paul Liebrandt, recently collaborated with the LES ice cream shop Morgenstern's and introduced a series of special soft serve flavors over the course of a month. I sampled the last one, a swirl of strawberry hibiscus sorbet and sunchoke ice cream. The texture of the soft serve was excellent, and I especially loved the sharpness of the sorbet. The sunchoke ice cream was fine, but more of a neutral base for the sorbet. The entire dessert was topped with toasted hazel... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Cream Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich with Chocolate Chip Cookies: For the past few weeks, I've passed this popular Ice Cream shop on my way back from Amoeba in Berkeley and always noted the long lines. At around 10pm last Friday night, it took me 8 minutes in line to get to the counter, where I was greeted with an overwhelming scent of butter and baked goods. While the menu lists over 20 flavors, only about 10 are actually available at any given time. I ordered their mint chocolate chip ice cream with two chocolate chip cookies for a surprisingly low pri... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Saffron & Rose Faloodeh and pistachio Turkish ice cream: Returning to this small ice cream shop after 3 years, I found Saffron & Rose has all grown up. Gone are the glass walls, replaced by an orange red drywall, and the generic white cups have been styled with their logo printed on the side. Also missing was the kind owner, who relentlessly handed me every flavor in the shop to sample (without me even asking). Luckily, the offerings remain true, with elastic ice cream in traditional flavors, many flavored with rosewater. The pistachio was creamy ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Toscanini's Grapefruit Sorbet: I paid a visit to this Cambridge favorite on my visit back to MIT and purchased a mini-scoop of grapefruit sorbet. The portion was generous, and the ice cream had a fantastically smooth texture. A great palate cleanser and very fresh – acidic and slightly bitter, though it did have that slight metallic taste you sometimes get even with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Despite the cold, the shop was as popular as ever, and it felt good to be back. 4.0/5.0
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Wiz Bang Bar Smith Teamaker Big Hibsicicle Sherbert: In the Pine Street Market, an indoor food hall in downtown Portland, is a soft serve and sundae bar named Wiz Bang from Salt & Straw, the ever-popular ice cream shop that has branched outside of the city to several LA and San Francisco locations. Central to Salt & Straw's success is their ability to strike a chord between the familiar and unexpected, with comforting flavors that are also intriguing and sometimes daring. The soft serve that I ordered, the Smith teamaker big hibiscicle sherber... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Quenelle Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet: Three years ago, you took a detour to Burbank to check out a humble ice cream shop opened by a former pastry chef with a Michelin-starred pedigree. There, your palate was expanded, with singular flavors like ras el hanout. You were stunned that ice cream could be so good: so creamy and well balanced, yet challenging and complex. You gave it a rare 5.0, and even after consuming ice cream from many respectable places since then, that one scoop stands out in your memory. Fast forward three year... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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