Chic Dessert; Champagne Sorbet

This weekend I was running around the city with a friend.  We were cruising around in his new (very fancy) BMW 7 series.  The car has amazing pickup and handles like I imagine a fighter jet would.  It was great for sitting in traffic in Chinatown, which is what we did.  All so that I could take him to Il Laboratorio.  

There was a line, but it wasn't too bad.  My friend turned to me and said "just so you know, I don't do lines."  It was his way of saying that it better be good.  I knew it would be.  

I got Tarragon with Pink Pepper, Black Fig, and Rum Raisin that was like kissing a pirate (a cute one) with raisins stuck in his teeth.  Intense, and unnerving, but kinda sweet.

My friend got, among other things, Champagne Sorbet.  It was, like all their flavors, spot on.  It started of grapey, and had all of the alcoholic bite at the finish.  It would make an elegant end to a meal.  I was thinking it would work well with fruit.  He mentioned ginger sugar.  Please post a comment if you have any ideas of what would work well with Champagne Sorbet.

About three bites in, my friend conceded that it was worth the wait.

Otto; Italian for Hell No!

Or maybe it is Italian for overrated? Or big fat stinky rip off? What ever it is I am calling fugazi on it.

I called to make a reservation for 2 and it was a no go till 10:30. That was fine. I asked if there was walk in gelato and the woman on the phone said yes.

My brother and I went to Taim for falafel. I knew it would be amazing, I was right. We sauntered over to 5th ave and went in. It was a packed restaurant. I looked around for the gelato counter and no dice. I asked the hostess about it and how we could get samples. She said that there were no samples and that we ordered through her.

I ordered Olive Oil, Salty Caramel and Creme Fraiche. My brother ordered milk chocolate chip, salty caramel and something else.

We waited in the lobby area of the restaurant (between the men's room and the coat check.) It was nice cause I met tons of people as they asked if I was on line for the restroom. I also got to direct women to the ladies room (I love helping.)

Ten minutes later a guy comes out with two containers that would be a medium at all the other gelato places. Each had been packed in such a way that the gelato was flush with the top. That is like getting a cone with the ice cream in the cone, but none above.

The kicker, it was over $8 for each serving. We paid and went off to the park. I was 4 feet out the door and I had to stop. It was so awful I could not swallow the stuff and walk at the same time. I had tried the salty caramel and it was SALT. I shudder when I think about it. It was a nightmare. Not correct. I had envisioned a vanilla with a swirl of caramel that had a slight salt bight, much like Hagen Dazs's Caramel Cone. Oh no. This was brown salt. I am aghast still thinking about it. It was so salty it should have been renamed Kosher Salt, cause that is what it was made of.

As overwhelming as the Salty Saltamel, the Olive Oil was on the opposite end of the spectrum. I get to say Michael Kors' line from Project Runway.

"Frankly, I was underwhelmed."

The Olive Oil was light green, not fruity, not peppery, not olive oil-y. It was however garnished with a drizzle of olive oil, and guess what else; MORE SALT. Thats right they put more salt on top of this one. I am stumped.

The Creme Fraiche was sweet without any of the tang that it should have had.

It was so bad that we walked to Grom to have some of the Melon to wash the bad feelings away. The line was 16 people deep. We went to L'arte and I had a sample of the Grapefruit with Campari and that helped make all the nastiness go away.

Grom Gelato

So this week in my quest for the city's best gelato I went to Grom on (Bleeker and 6th Ave.)

It was delicious. It was simultaneously creamy and watery, but it worked. I tried the Extra Noir and Pistachio. The chocolate was rich and fruity and the pistachio was spot on. It wasn't cheap by any stretch. It was a good mix of classic (so far L'arte Del Gelato is the clear winner with that one) and experimental (Il Laboratorio del Gelato holds down that title). Overall the flavors were subtle.

There was one flavor that was a hands down winner; Melon. It was uncanny. It kind of scared me to have such in intense experience in a public place. If you are in the neighborhood you must stop in for some of that.

Click here to see what the Times had to say about them.

Never Walk Out on You

This song is amazing. I have been listening to it over and over. Be forewarned it is addictive.

Never Walk on You

Enjoy

I love this Sunscreen

I picked up some of this (Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist) at Ricky's. I was looking for something else and got this instead. I love it. It goes on fast and is really weightless. It works very well and stays on even after a lot of physical activity.

I got the SPF 70, not the 30 pictured above. I was used to use Hawaiian Tropic Ozone SPF 70. That's what I went into Ricky's to buy, cause they are the only people that stock it (although not consistently). This is a far better product. Although Hawaiian Tropic has reformulated the 70 since Mexoryl was approved by the FDA. I think a trip back to Ricky's, and some comparative testing is in my future.

Gelati Quest

This summer I has been about a couple of things for me:

1. Cheap Chinese massage
2. the falafel at Taim, and
   
3. finding the best gelato in the city

So far I have hit three palces, there are more in the cards, I just need to do some cardio to work off the first three.

1. L'Arte Del Gelato

I have been going to the 75 7th ave location (between Bleeker and W4th). The have great traditional gelato. The flavors like panna cotta, tiramisu, and Nutella. Some of the flavors are a little more on the fun side (like yogurt) but really they are all time tested winners.

They also have a location in the Chelsea Market.

2. Cones



Cones (272 Bleecker St) is not gelato, but ice cream. I went at the suggestion of a friend. It was great classic American style ice cream. It was dense for ice cream and fatty. It was some of the best ice cream I have tasted (the mocha chocolate chip was excelent), but in all I prefer gelato. It has less air, less fat and is served 15 degrees warmer. All these things help give it a stronger flavor.

3. Il Laboratorio Del Gelato


I have been meaning to go to this place for a while (95 Orchard St. between Broome & Delancey Sts). I got an assignment from Conde Nast yesterday that got me in the neighborhood and I couldn't resist. I went with my editor. The guy behind the counter was like a gelato sommelier. It took 7 minutes and twice as many tastings to decide on a flavor. I went with fresh fig. My editor went with tarragon with pink pepper. Both were amazing. The fig started off as nothing much, but after 15 seconds the flavor grows and becomes intense.

The place is true to it's name. They are a lab with strange and fantastic flavors like buttermilk and Guinness. If you are in the mood for a wild experience stop by and have whatever odd flavors they have out.