Frozen: Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, Kyotofu, Sundaes & Cones, Chickalicious, Yogurtland, 'wichcraft, and Shake Shack

As the weather in the city starts to cool, I find myself dreaming frequently of ice cream, gelato, and soft-serve. My penchant for frozen treats extends throughout the year, but reaches a peak come fall and the dark days of winter. Ice cream in summer is classic, but the rush for quick consumption before it turns into milky puddles down your black dress is far too nerve-wracking.

Like that time Shann, Steph, and I made way to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory for a pre-Grimaldi's snack.

As though the outside air were not hot enough, they neglected to open windows inside the little shop, providing a steaming sauna experience as we waited in line for cones filled with scoops of the classic Vanilla Chocolate Chip...

...and Coffee ice cream. Delicious? Why, of course. But the cones were downed in less than a minute, for if we dared to stretch the enjoyment a second longer, we'd encounter nothing more than lukewarm liquid. Shann remarked, "that was incredibly stressful."

On a cooler afternoon, we headed to Kyotofu for twists of Chocolate-Black Soybean and Tahitian Vanilla. Each serving comes with your topping of choice: kuromitsu whipped cream, fresh fruits, mixed berry compote, or mochi. Steph went for the Matcha Mochi...

...while I found favor with Kinako Mochi, fine compliments to the subtly sweet soft-serve. The "soy" element was not pronounced as I had hoped for, but the lush, smooth and easy texture was made this easily likable.

Sundaes & Cones, with a full line of Asian inspired flavours (I'm still hoping for Durian to come on the menu) is our go-to ice creamery. Close proximity to our apartment, ample seating and magazines galore make it an ideal location to close off a lazy evening...tucking away scoops of black sesame...

...Corn & Green Tea...

...and a very lovely Guava. The wispy tropical flavours and pale pink shade never fails to make me smile as I am reminded Hawai'i.

A couple blocks east of Sundaes & Cones is Chickalicious Dessert Club. Here, $5 buys a dainty sundae of vanilla soft serve with brownies chunks, toasted pistachio, and shredded kafti. It's presented in a plastic cup, swirled high, and completed with a luscious pour of hot fudge.

Cookies don't quite fit in the 'frozen treats' theme of this post, but add a trio of their chocolate chip cookies to your order, and this sundae will be elevated to levels of deliciousness previously unknown. They're priced well at 3/$1.95, and besides, they sit so close to the register…how could you resist?

I stopped in at Yogurtland the other week after learning that they had Taro on the menu.

Green Tea on the left and Taro on the right. A small serving of each ran $2.50 for this cup. The Green Tea was terrible . And while the Taro was indeed full on fake tasting, it had that slight likeability factor...you know that same oomph you get when you order taro boba drinks? The it's clear that this is not real taro, yet it is strangely addicting? Something to that extent!

Following lunch at Soba Totto the other week, Lauren and I had dessert at the Bryant Park 'wichcraft stand. For myself: coffee ice cream with toffee sauce and chocolate cookie crumbles.

And for Lauren: hazelnut and coffee ice cream, crumbled peanut butter and chocolate cookies.

And while the fall days are cool enough to enjoy the outside, but not so cold that the notion of frozen custard induces shivers, I very often find myself in the "B" Line at Shake Shack. Noon, late afternoon, or 10pm, custard is perfectly appropriate for every time and meal of the day. Last Friday I decided a sundae would be most suitable for the 6pm hour - peanut butter and concord grape jelly custard, vanilla custard, bananas, whipped cream, and a single cherry. Whimsical! Steph had the same sundae, with shortbread cookies in place of bananas.

I was back two days later, this time with Lauren who had a chocolate custard concrete with almonds and peanut butter sauce.

Cannoli was the custard of the day, my favourite Shack Shack flavour and one I'd never turn down. Creamy ricotta custard with sharp hints of lemon and...oh man, get this...crushed cannoli shells! Now how wonderful is that? I am absolutely in love :)

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
1 Water Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-246-3963

Kyotofu
705 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10019
(212) 974-6012

Sundaes & Cones
95 E 10th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 979-9398

Chickalicious Dessert Club
204 E. 10th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 475-0929

Yogurtland
267 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10014
(212) 206-1824

'wichcraft
11 west 40th Street @ 6th Avenue
Bryant Park

Shake Shack
Madison Square Park
23rd St and Madison Ave
New York, NY 10010
(212) 889-6600

In The Neighborhood...

...is Redhead, a restaurant delivering instant invitation of warmth in a cozy atmosphere. Lovely for dinners on a whim with one or two close friends. Or sometimes, better yet, alone in the company of strangers. Below, a few snapshots of some of my favourite dishes at this hospitable East Village newcomer. Check Ed's article on Serious Eats for a full review.

Buttermilk fried chicken, crisp and on the salty side (that's a good thing! :) with meat so moist, the juices positively drip down your wrists. The entree comes with a wedge of warm cornbread - made complete with generous pats of butter, and a light pecan salad. On previous visits the salad featured Tristar strawberries, but none were seen on this time around. No matters, it was still delicious.

I'd be delighted to call two or three orders of the one-eyed Caesar my dinner. With a taste rivaling that of its appearance, the salad demands a double take for the one-eyed Susan alone, a perfectly cooked egg nestled within brioche and scatterings of crisp capers.

The market risotto, savoury light and satisfying, owes rhythm to daily Greenmarket offerings - I found a bounty of crimini mushrooms and fennel in yesterday's meal.

Lauren was quite pleased with the artic char on our visit a few weeks past...

...and while we both agreed that while the rich Anson Mills antebellum grits were indeed a work of art (with a shimmering pool of slow melting butter dolloped over the surface just seconds before ), it did a terrible number on our arteries.

But ooh, it would be terribly difficult to ignore Erica's offering of those same grits coupled with low country shrimp and sausages.

For dessert? Figgy pudding and salted caramel hobos answer calls of comfort, but I'm quite delighted with the excellent Chocolate-Oat Cookie that accompanies the check.

The Redhead
349 E 13th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 533-6212

Bus Rides

Each weekday morning, I walk three avenues west to the bus stop. I catch the bus to work. No more subways. Not since the middle of June - sticky summer. Fall came to us this week, and though the weather verges on chilly, I think my bus habit will continue through winter.

Summer, though wonderful at times, was dominated by heat rare encountered in Hawai'i where it always warm, but more importantly, full of breezy trade winds. There was something awful in waking to a slight tinge of sweat, piling on business attire, lugging a heavy briefcase down five flights of stairs, and then down two more to the train. To wait at the subway platform with glistening beads of summer heat trailing down your skin.

In the tangle of heat, the bus, with chilly air conditioning, and no need to go underground, is glorious. Granted it is much slower than the subway, but waking early enough to account for lost time is a fair trade-off. After taking the same route at the same time for enough days you run into the same people over again. Some you see on Monday and Thursday, others only on Friday, but one individual I see every single morning.

On certain days he waits at my bus stop, and yet on others I find him in the very back, already seated, quite comfortably, by the time I get on. I'm guessing he lives somewhere between my stop and the stop before. My stop is second on the bus route.

He is burly with one pierced ear and a ring on his left hand. A gold ring with a purple stone. Today it was purple. Yesterday was green. The day before, black. I do not recall colours of days prior, but I feel justified to concluded that it surely not purple, green, nor black.

We somehow end up sitting next to each other in the back of the bus. I used to sit in the middle of the bus. But one day, when I boarded with a friend, he led me to the very back even though the bus was completely empty that evening. I inquired, "why the very back?" And he said it was polite, and that one, if young and in relatively good health, should leave not just the front, but also the middle for others.

Now I always sit in the back of the bus. Ingrained habit, I suppose.

Well, tomorrow is Saturday, and the day after is Sunday. On Monday morning I must check for the colour of his ring. I hope it will be blue.

This Pizza Craving of Mine...

...must come to a stop. For the last few weeks, my desires for banana pudding, olive oil loaves, and butterscotch cookies have seemingly come to be replaced by cravings for hot slices right out of the oven at Di Fara's. I dream of slightly burnt crusts, fresh mozzarella and basil, drizzles of olive oil...all washed down with a can (or two :) of Coke.

Di Fara's on a Sunday afternoon with Don and a few friends. Half the joy of a meal at Di Fara's is watching Dom at work. Where he gets the energy to accomplish all he does at the age of 71 is beyond me..."impressed" doesn't even begin to describe my wonderment.

The meal started off with a square slice for each...

...eagerly making way to the whole pie...

...complete with sausage, artichokes, and mushrooms.

An upskirt shot for those curious few :) For a more detailed review (because I am far too stuffed with pizza at the moment to offer any more), head to Danny's blog at Food in Mouth -> now those are some drool worthy photos!

As a quick go to spot on lazy afternoons, Artichoke is but a minute walk from our new apartment. This pizza joint, overtaken by hipsters in the evening, is relatively quiet on weekday afternoons with nary a wait. Pictured above is the square Sicilian slice, my personal favourite.

But on other days I branch out to the regular slice...

...and then every so often a craving for the signature artichoke pizza arises. My stomach never fails to feels of awful hell after downing one of those grease bombs. I know perfectly well the outcomes of eating an entire artichoke slice, but that knowledge is terribly insufficient in stopping me.

I also frequent Vinny Vincenz on a regular basis. Located around the corner from Artichoke, it's often a toss up between the two when I walk home in the evening bearing burdens of a pizza craving. Vinny's is on the "lighter" side...the abundant seating and free wifi is nice bonus.

Upskirt, hooray! Not bad at all for gas oven pizza.

Out in Brooklyn for ice cream this afternoon, we noticed that there was not a single soul in line for pizza at Grimaldi's. Absolutely unheard of! So we took advantage of the opportunity, walking right in, and were seated in a minute.

The restaurant was packed full with an equal mix of tourists and locals...bustling atmosphere, good music, and according to Steph, our new roommate from Hawai'i, "very New York." There was little discussion needed before confidently deciding upon a sausage and mushroom pie...

...tadah! The perfect size for an afternoon, post Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory "snack." We left an hour later, exiting the restaurant to discover this massive line for a table at Grimaldi's...my goodness we were lucky to pass by the restaurant at the time we did!

Di Fara
1424 Avenue J
Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718) 258-1367

Artichoke Basilles Pizza
328 E 14th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-2004

Grimaldi's
19 Old Fulton St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 858-4300

Vinny Vincenz
231 1st Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 674-0707

Back In The City...

Darien U-Haul's us back after 12 hours at Ikea

...our new apartment is nearly put together! It's quite different living with three instead of one apartment-mate, but I'd say different for the better ^_^ Shann took a peek into all four rooms yesterday and pointed out that each room fit perfectly into a season. Steph is Spring with a plushy green & white bed and pastel clothing hung on an adorable coat rack. Darien (who created a remarkable amount of storage space from little room) covers Fall with a cozy warm ambiance in shades of deep red. With cheerful bright solids and photos of our home island, Shann is doubtlessly Summer. That leaves me at Winter, much appropriate with a golden mirror and icy tones. I'm quick to admit the whole 'seasons' thing is cheesy, but I thought it was cute how at all was completely unplanned.

The living room is currently a work in progress. We have a red sofa stretching across the white wall and a homey brown leather rocking chair along the brick walls. There's some confusion as to where to put the coffee table/do we need a coffee table, but I'm sure that will be figured out soon enough. We are still without internet, spending nights at wifi friendly spots nearby - Oko, Veselka, Gramstand, and Vinny Vincenz. We occasionally catch signal from the neighbor's internet, though it goes on and off. Some network names around us are pretty hilarious, but the one that we get the strongest signal from is, "the panty burglars." Darien's reaction to the name, which coupled fear with sarcasm, sent us in peals of laughter while we briefly considered titling out network, "the boxer burglars."

Steph and I, 10am, Ikea water ferry...we didn't look nearly this refreshed on the 10pm ferry back...

All four of us took at loooong trip to the Red Hook Ikea last week. We were on the very first ferry out and, sure enough, on the very last ferry back. Having spent a total of 12 hours at Ikea, we naturally consumed all of breakfast, lunch, and dinner within the confines of this home furnishing warehouse.

Sweedish meatballs for lunch, cinnamon buns for an afternoon snack, hot dogs for dinner, and soft serve for dessert I kid you not! Instead of having the furniture delivered as originally planned, Darien suggested rented a U-Haul and bravely volunteered to drive us back to the city. You must understand, this was a very impressive feat given the fact that we've never ever ever driven a car, much less U-Haul van, outside of the Aloha State. We got a bit lost in the beginning, the BQE was nothing short of nerve-racking...but we made it home in good time AND managed to take all out furniture, assembly line style up to the apartment. Two friendly neighbor boys carried up the sofa, saving us a good deal of sweat - we'll be sure to bake them cookies in return.

I've been getting into the habit of cooking more, which not only allows me to better control what I eat and how much I eat, but also provides a great sense of satisfaction and serenity.

I've dilly dallyed away a fair amount of time at the Greenmarket over the last few weeks, eating up the last of summer berries and drinking by morning hours with chocolate and coffee milk from Ronnybrook Dairy.

For a solid three nights in a row last week, I made Panzanella for dinner using this recipe found on Serious Eats. Aside from a simple burrata, tomato, and pesto concoction, I couldn't imagine a better way to feature gorgeous summer heirlooms but to chop and toss with garlic infused cubes of Balthazar baguettes and a touch of balsamic and Maldon. The few extra grates of Parmesan might have been a tad more than most would recommend, but oh man was it delicious.

Other days I'll throw together a simple pasta composed of flavours I crave - last night it was garlic, spinach and plenty of anchovies. Nothing like snuggling up with a warm bowl of pasta and a good novel.

P.S.
Thanks Shann, for climbing up on the walls (spiderman style!) to store all our suitcases the other night :)