The Ultimate New York Ice Cream Crawl
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New Yorkers, rejoice: We’re living in a golden age of ice cream, with a rash of pastry chefs like Nicholas Morgenstern and Dominique Ansel turning their considerable talents to thick, creamy small-batch sweets and knocking fro-yo off its high tower. That’s not to say the new ice cream is marked “gluttons only.” The city’s sorbets and vegan options (looking at you, Van Leeuwen) have never looked better. So we hereby present the ultimate summertime stunt: A three-hour ice cream crawl in Lower Manhattan, taking you by seven new ice cream shops, all opened in the past year or so, in a single afternoon. And, in a bit of happy timing, today just happens to be National Ice Cream Day. As if you need the excuse.
1/7Ice Vice
Opened: June 2015
The Cone: Mahjong (jasmine tea, white peach, peach lambic) and Happy Panda (Forbidden Rice, coconut milk, Ceylon and Saigon cinnamon) sorbet
Ken Lo and **Paul Kim’**s craft ice cream shop scoops small batches of experimental flavors—toasted milk and chocolate ganache, crème fraîche and rose petal jam—in a minimalist, light-filled space. Each one is richly imagined: Take the Three Little Pigs, a slow-cooked sea-salt caramel infused with bacon butter, with chunks of house-made bacon praline scattered throughout.
221 East Broadway, at Clinton Street; 646.678.3687
2/7Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream
Opened: May 2014
The Cone: Apricot and raspberry currant sorbet
Veteran pastry chef and restaurateur Nicholas Morgenstern turned his eye to innovative, egg-free ice creams last year in this nine-seat parlor downtown. From burnt honey vanilla to Vietnamese coffee dripping in condensed milk, flavors are full-bodied, despite the low-sugar, low butterfat composition. Toppings, like house-made cardamom lemon preserves, come packed into the cone and heart of each scoop.
2 Rivington Street, at Bowery; 212.209.7684
3/7OddFellows Ice Cream Co.
Opened: May 2014
The Cone: Black pepper strawberry and olive oil ice cream
Former wd~50 pastry chef **Sam Mason’**s new East Village outpost is more of a takeaway spot: Eight rotating flavors come straight from OddFellow s Williamsburg flagship, but the soft, buttery waffle cones are made right on the shop s back counter. A scoop of melt-in-your-mouth olive oil ice cream, made with milk from Salem’s Battenkill Creamery and topped with Mast Brothers hot fudge, is a winner.
75 East Fourth Street, at Bowery; 917.475.1812
4/7DF Mavens
Opened: December 2014
The Cone: Java and Del Lago chocolate vegan ice cream
All flavors at **Malcolm Stogo’**s St. Mark s Place shop are dairy-free and blissfully varied for vegans: Blueberry cookie and key lime creme, for starters, a far cry from the usual nut-butter fare. The coconut-based green tea is sure to satisfy, and pairs well with Konery’s toasted coconut cone. However, we recommend trying the sorbets like fresh juicy peach, packed with chunks of the fleshy stone fruit.
37 St. Mark s Place, at Second Avenue; 212.260.9800
5/7Mikey Likes It
Opened: May 2014
The Cone: Ice Ice Baby vanilla ice cream
With tongue-in-cheek throwback decor—think clocks with Will Smith and **Macaulay Culkin’**s heads—and friendly faces behind the counter, **Michael Cole’**s pop culture–inspired shop has it all. From fun flavors of the month (True Colors, a double blueberry with red velvet and cheesecake chunks) to the perfect vanilla, Mikey’s scoops recall the sweet, simple ice creams of your childhood—and taste great between two mini Belgian waffles.
199 Avenue A, at East Twelfth Street; 212.470.0426