Understood - thanks. Just sayin’ though - hate is pretty strong. Your cognitive and writing skills are far above using a term like that in this situation IMO.
Never knew S&S in Portland sourced such excellent dairy. My wife and her sister tried and enjoyed S&S in October last year. I didn’t think to ask how they felt it compared to ice cream down here. I suspect it would’ve been as you feel.
Van Leeuwen’s dark chocolate icecream is easily one of the best chocolate ice creams ever. Not too sweet, smooth, and no-fuckin-around CHOCOLATE.
I like Milk’s icecream sandwiches.
So what do you think defines a good ice-cream? Because I’ve always been disappointed by Bi-Rite. I do like Copa Loca, but that’s technically more gelato.
So much incorrect info here.
Everybody has their own opinions but I strongly disagree as well. In the last 3-5 years I think LA has significantly improved the depth and quality of ice cream across the board. In fact I’d like to know another city in the US that would beat this lineup since we’ve imported many of the best vendors from other parts of the country.
Ice Cream - Salt n Straw, Jeni’s, McConnells, Sweet Rose, Carmela, Mother Moo, Leeuwen and Wanderlust
Soft Serve - Sweet Rose, Magpies, Jon n Vinnys, Big Gay Ice Cream and Pitfire Pizza
Gelato - Bulgarini, Grom and Mozza
Out of the Box - Milk, Afters, Cauldron, etc…
Morano Gelato (Boston and NH) is better than Bulgarini
Thanks for nothing. Where were you 5 years ago when I went to Boston for my cousin’s wedding?
Having it in Portland before LA was key. I remember thinking it was just some kind of touristy/overly hip thing in Portland, but I finally caught a time when they had a low line and went for it. The accolades make a lot of sense. Funnily enough, up there, it isn’t even their “crazy” flavors that most sold me. Their simple arbequina olive oil flavor made with that incredible Lochmead milk stands out as perhaps the most luscious, subtle, and texturally perfect ice cream I have ever had. (On a related note to this, though, one can have a grand time pranking people by having the flavor turned into a milkshake and pomegranate vinegar added to effectively make a “salad dressing” milkshake. It’s amusing to give to an unsuspecting friend).
I recall going to the LA Salt n Straw when they first opened with excitement that people so dedicated to sourcing and craftsmanship were in LA. Alas…only after eating hard, disappointing ice cream that didn’t sing with the subtle complexities of the Portland shops did I go out and see what kind of sourcing was going on. So incredibly disappointing.
On the other hand, since everyone else in LA seems to like hard ice cream so much…perhaps it was a conscious choice on their part to serve the LA market better.
Oh well.
While I’m in your camp for properly tempered ice cream, I’m guessing our local climate contributes to preference for being served harder (colder) ice cream. It’s probably a simple issue of practicality.
ooo! ooo! I get to play my hipster foodie card!
I lived in portland for about a year, in 2011-2012
One of my first ‘walk around the neighborhoods’ found me Salt 'n Straw’s icecream cart, where I got their salted caramel icecream (the first version of that I ever had). Chatting with the nice lady that served me, she mentioned they were going to be opening their first shop in only a couple of months.
The opening lines were UTTERLY redonkulous, but since my favorite tea cafe was a few blocks down, I was able to time my visits away from the serious peak hours. I’m with you when you mention the olive oil flavor. Again, my first real exposure to that sort of ‘savory’ icecream. And yeah, it was pretty remarkable.
I never did get to sample it in LA, but Jenni’s and Milk certainly have ice cream of comparable quality.
One very interesting flavor I found in PDX at a place called La Patisserie was a chocolate and bleu cheese icecream. Which sounded really strange at first and turned out to be delicious. I’ve never seen it anywhere else.
Well, then I merely live in the wrong climate to fully enjoy ice cream I guess. Alas… fortunately there are many other things to enjoy about LA.
Jenni’s, the place that saturates with corn syrup?
And Milk? I have to wonder…was Milk once amazing? Every time I have gone they have been mediocre to horrifically bad. They served me the most watery milkshake of my life…it should be a crime to serve such abysmal milkshakes in my opinion, so it’s incredible to me that people suggest they are some kind of high-quality producer. It makes me wonder if they were once amazing, but have declined significantly…or perhaps the reverse is true and they have lifted themselves up out of their depths and I need to return?
I never had a milkshake there. I always seemed to end up with the ice cream sandwiches.
Then again, I have a horrendous sweet tooth, so perhaps my judgements on this are suspect. I may be too easily swayed by base serotonin release.
I think you have strong preferences, and those preferences are usually on the mark. There are chefs who suffer for their food, and there are consumers of that food who suffer in order to hit that right moment.
Where have you had ice cream in LA?
Mother Moo sources from Straus Farms dairy, which takes a backseat to no organic dairy farm, Lochmead included. And Mother Moo’s ice cream is bordering on 20% butterfat (which is higher than the 17% butterfat in Salt & Straw), with minimal overrun. Ridiculous, I know. Like licking flavored frozen butter.
Gresescent similarly uses Straus Farms dairy and while I do not know their butterfat content, I think if you find their ice cream hard, then what you want is really just soft serve, or maybe a milkshake.
Damn Mother Moo is really a trek, but I’ll try to make it out there one of these days.
Gracias
Well, next time you head over to Best Noodle House or Sea Harbour, do a FTC trademarked bang-bang.
I have no idea how to properly pronounce the name but Gresescent ice cream is definitely the best ice cream I’ve had in LA to date. Some of the flavors don’t necessarily work as well as I would like in an ideal world but they mostly have an excellent texture. And I think I will be forever pissed that everywhere doesn’t serve ice cream in bouquet form. It recalls my childhood dreams of eating ice cream like the kids in the parties in Hooper Humperdinck books.
Their waffle cones are also excellent.
Thanks for the recommendation. Eventually I’ll hit MM as well on one of those bangs.
Did you ever doubt me?
Well, slightly, I mean, we normally have polar opposite approaches to food lol
Hopefully I’ll make it to MM soon, maybe just bang it out with bulgarini haha
Things are looking up! Now, if we can just get hand whipped cream to become a standard we’ll really be golden! =P
