Parlor Profile: Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream

When Zoey and I were in Seattle, we stayed with a friend of mine from college who I haven't seen or even talked to in four years! It's hard to believe, but we had an amazing time and she and her roomates were wonderful and gracious enough to let us crash at their place while we searched for an apartment for Zoey. We rewarded them by making dinner and filling their freezer with amazing ice cream from their favorite ice cream place in Seattle, Molly Moon's.



Name: Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream

Location: Pine Street, Capitol Hill, Seattle WA





The Scoop: Molly Moon's was started in 2008 by a woman who is actually named Molly Moon Neitzel. There are currently two stores in Seattle and a "mobile scoop shop" that got up and running just this summer. They try to use only ingredients from the Pacific Northwest, including milk from West Washington cows (though they sometimes dip down into Northern California for some ingredients). The two shops are made from sustainable and reclaimed materials, and all of the cups are compost-able (points!). They also make their own waffle cones in-store, yum!



The Flavors: I had ginger and strawberry. Other popular flavors include balsamic strawberry, salted caramel, honey lavender and sweet basil.



The Price: One two-scoop cone ran us $6.60. Ouch!



The Verdict: The ginger ice cream was perfect; creamy and spicy with small pieces of ginger in it. The strawberry was underwhelming, and actually tasted a bit like freezer burn. The cone was a bit thin, but nice and sweet, and the smell of waffle cones baking in the store was incredible. I tried a lot of the other flavors too, and some were incredible (theo chocolate) and some were ho-hum (balsamic strawberry). I like the aesthetic of the store, very clean and classy with nice wood details, a bar with stools and white walls that make the small space seem bigger. Their dedication to sustainability and local ingredients is also admirable (they don't ship their ice cream either but hope to open more stores in the Seattle area). Freezer-burn aside, I give Molly Moon's two thumbs up!

Parlor Profile: Mitchell's Ice Cream

When we were in CA a few weeks ago I dragged M to one of my favorite ice cream places in San Francisco. My friend Rho introduced me to it when we were both living in California and we shared a wonderful afternoon filled with ice cream, cherries and the beautiful view from the top of Bernal Hill.



Name: Mitchell's Ice Cream

Location: San Jose Ave., Bernal Heights, San Francisco CA



The Scoop: Mitchell's has been owned and operated by the Mitchell family since 1953 in the same spot in San Francisco and they make all of their ice cream on site. They are famous for their tropical flavors and they import fresh ingredients from the Philippines to make exotic flavors like Buko (baby coconut), Langka (jackfruit), Ube (purple yam), Lychee, Macapuno (young coconut), and Halo Halo (Buko, Langka, Ube, Pineapple, Mango and Sweet Beans).



The Flavors: We tried Halo Halo and Sweet and Salty Peanut.



The Price: One two-scoop cone ran us $4.80. Yikes!



The Verdict: I've decided to stop imposing a rating system on these ice cream parlors because honestly, would I ever give ice cream a bad rating? So needless to say, the ice cream was delicious. It was thick and creamy, melting down my hand and leaving me feeling a little uncomfortably full, the way good ice cream should. The Sweet and Salty Peanut was exactly that, who knew I would like salt in my ice cream? And if I had to choose again I would go for one of the tropical flavors by itself instead of getting Halo Halo which is all of them mashed together. I've had Ube in the past and it was earthy and bright purple, which gives it a leg up in my book. But I would be interested to taste the difference between "young coconut" and "baby coconut." Maybe next time (why must you be 3,000 miles away from me, Mitchell's?).

Parlor Profile: eCreamery Ice Cream and Gelato

My sister and I found this creamery in Omaha, Nebraska, just around the corner from her friend's house where we were staying during our drive from CA to PA last month. Omaha was surprisingly hip, especially the Dundee neighborhood where we stayed. And a good creamery is just icing on the cake for me, so to speak. Luckily two of my best friends are moving there soon, so I will get a chance to go back and hang out there more (in Omaha, not the ice cream store specifically, though that might happen as well).



Name: eCreamery Ice Cream and Gelato

Location: Underwood Ave, Omaha, NE



The Scoop: The tag line for eCreamery is "For a life less vanilla," how great is that? This is a mostly online business where you can control all aspects of the ice cream creation. You pick the flavors (anything you want, they once made lobster ice cream for someone), the packaging, and even the name on the packaging. This is their only store location and all of their ice cream is made in small batches in this store. The store was painted bright green, which I love, and the menu and mural behind the counter were both done in colored chalk by a local artist.



The Flavors: We tried Pumpkin Dulce de Lece, White Chocolate Hazelnut, and Sweet Cream.





The Price: We got three single scoop cones for $8.



The Verdict: The flavors in the store were not as adventurous as I wanted, although they did have Stout flavored ice cream, which tasted just like a beer float, mmmmmm. The ice cream was creamy and dense, definitely fattening (you could almost taste the butterfat!). The Pumpkin Dulce de Lece was like eating cold pumpkin pie filling (aka, amazing), but the Sweet Cream was kind of bland. All in all, a 6 out of 10. But I could see the rating going up if I ordered a custom flavor that was more adventurous, maybe something like chocolate with raspberry and lime swirls and brownie bits?

Parlor Profile: Tara's Organic Ice Cream

I went to visit my friend Emily in Oakland last weekend and she took me to Tara's in Berkeley. There are a few more ice cream parlors in the Bay Area that I would really like to profile, including Mitchell's and MaggieMudd in San Francisco, and Ici in Berkeley. But since I'm moving in, oh, a WEEK (eek!), I don't think I'll be able to do it. But now you all know a few places to go for your ice cream fix in the Bay Area!

Now, on to Tara's:



Name: Tara's Organic Ice Cream Scoop Shop

Location: College Ave, Berkeley, CA



The Scoop: Tara's was started in Santa Fe, New Mexico and produces ice cream in small batches. Most of their business is done on a mail-order basis (you can purchase pints online). This is the only scoop shop they have as far as I can tell. All of the packaging for shipping, as well as the cups, utensils, napkins and all of that stuff in the shop are biodegradable.



The Flavors: We tried Kaffir Lime Leaf, Comote (sweet potato), Rosemary Pear, and Sweet Corn.



The Price: We each got a small cone with two scoops, for $7.20.



The Verdict: We got black sesame waffle cones, which were very sweet and crunchy, in the best way possible. The ice cream also had a kind of crumbly quality to it with large ice crystals, almost like ice cream that you've mistakenly melted then refroze and eaten anyway (or is that just me?). If ice cream can be light, this is light ice cream. And the flavors taste exactly like what they are supposed to be. Like sweet corn? If you took a can of corn, added milk and sugar, blended it and froze it, it would taste just like this ice cream. There were actually small peices of corn in it. We got to taste a whole bunch of other flavors too, like Basil, Lemongrass, Black Sesame, and Pink Peppercorn (I'm not sure why I feel the need to capitalize all the flavor names). All taste exactly like you would expect, surprisingly. All in all, an 8 out of 10!

Parlor Profile: Bi-Rite Creamery and Bakeshop

Since ice cream is one of my favorite things ever, I've decided to start a series on this blog, profiling ice cream parlors. Mmmmmmmm. Here we go!



Name: Bi-Rite Creamery and Bakeshop.

Location: 18th and Dolores, The Mission, San Francisco.



The Goods: They make their ice cream in single batches with organic, local ingredients and Strauss dairy products (the same Marin Co. dairy that makes the milk I drink!). Their cups and packaging are biodegradable. This last part actually led to some hilarious moments (for me) because the biodegradable cup kept bending whenever M tried to scoop the ice cream out, and he ended up with ice cream all over his hand.



The Flavors: We tried Mint Hill Honey Lavender, Mexican Chocolate with salted peanuts, Coffee Toffee, and Roasted Banana.



The Price: We got a cone and a cup, two scoops each, for $6.50.



The Verdict: The Mint Hill Honey Lavender is made with honey and lavender collected on Mint Hill in San Francisco and it's smoooooth and creamy, very fragrant, but not too much. The Mexican Chocolate was rich, but the peanuts were unnecessary and detracted from the taste. The Roasted Banana was very banana-y, which I think is gross, so to each his own. And the Coffee Toffee had an incredibly delicious roasted coffee taste (made with coffee from the local favorite, Ritual Roasters), although I don't like toffee, so I'm biased on this one too. All in all, I'd give it a 7 out of 10. Delicious.