Craig Brownlie: I judge a city by its ice cream.
Adam Wilcox: You’re tough. Mostly, I just like to eat it.
CB: Nowadays the
supermarket is filled with high-end and down-market varieties of myriad
flavors. Yet nothing quite matches the decadence of hitting an ice cream
parlor. Without ice cream, the United
States would not be quite so charming.
Sitting outside Bill Wahl’s (45 Schoen Place) on
the canal is a very democratic experience, populated with smiles and children
and activity, as opposed to the sterility of our other great experience of
democracy: elections. I love Bill Wahl’s because of its location and
friendliness, and the taste of its treats. The great parlor in the sky
definitely serves Bill’s Private Stock (coffee with chocolate chunks and toffee
bits) among its 77 flavors.
AW: It’s great
ice cream; homemade and “super premium” (that means 14 percent butter fat).
Love the t-shirts. And it’s a great place to take a walk (though I’m always
concerned my boy is going to launch himself into the canal).
CB: Then there is
Bruster’s (2255 Ridge Road East),
for which I have a soft spot since it seems to have followed my family as we’ve
moved over the past decade and a half. Even its yogurt is hard and tasty which
is more than you can say for many ice creams.
AW: I get chain
rash when I walk in, but that’s the worst thing I can say about the place. I
had thought it was expensive, but with kid portions, I got out of there for 10
bucks for me and my three kids.
CB: I Scream (1683 Mt.Hope) probably has better prices. I’m
not a fan of Hershey’s ice cream, with its reliance on additives. That being
said, a shop would have to go pretty far afield for a
bad ice cream experience. The wonderful thing that Justin, the owner, has going
is the home-made stuff that he’s doing. His sorbet is outstanding, like
blossoms on ice. Did you scream for I Scream?
AW: Not so much
for the Hershey’s ice cream. But a groovy non-chain place, a pile of milkshake
possibilities, decent prices, and a cool owner make for a good
going-out-for-ice-cream experience. And I grew up on Hershey’s, so additives or
no, I have a soft spot for it.
CB: In some
respects, I see the temptation to open a shop, but not make your own ice cream.
Hรคagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s, to my tastes, do
the franchise thing the best, so why go with one of these other brands? Rumor
has it that there is a Ben & Jerry’s on the RIT campus. The nearest Hรคagen-Dazs is in Toronto.
The current 20-ton elephant of chain ice cream, though, has to be Cold Stone Creamery (PittsfordPlaza).
AW: You turned me
on to Cold Stone. Grrreeaaat coffee ice cream.Very slick, with all those
mix-in possibilities, and the pretty presentation.Too
slick. But I really liked the ice cream.
CB: Cold Stone
tries hard to be your friendly neighborhood parlor. The employees sing songs
and wear cutesy t-shirts. The chain uses trays of fresh ice cream as opposed to
the notorious cardboard buckets of yore. I agree that Cold Stone makes one of
the better coffee ice creams. The price is high, but the ice cream is that
airless variety promulgated by Ben and Jerry’s. Our younger companions noted
that the chocolate was not quite in the same league as the other flavors.
AW: The South
Wedge also has Hershey’s cones at Patrik’s Culinary Kreations (847 South Goodman). It’s great to be able to
walk there, and Lila loves the chocolate moose tracks. Until we hit Shark’s, Patrik’s was my wife’s favorite, though I don’t see much
quality difference among all the places that serve Hershey’s, Perry’s, or Byrne
Dairy. Sometimes it’s the feel of the place, I guess. Lugia’s (4719 Lyell Road, Spencerport) is a
popular West Side Perry’s joint. Aside from fairly high prices and cool, rimmed
cone holders, we didn’t see what distinguished them.
CB: Tom Wahl’s
had a “hand-crafted ice cream” shop in Marketplace Mall, but it recently
closed. Maybe Wahl’s will continue selling hard ice
cream at its regular restaurants. (Though hopefully not the
infamous haddock flavor.)
AW: Homemade and
local both mean a lot to me, and my favorite spot hasn’t changed since I last
wrote about ice cream, though the owner has. Shark’s Custard & Candy (Routes 5 and 20, Bloomfield) just has it: great, creamy ice cream with all natural flavors; value
(huge portions and no charge for waffle cones!); slick shop; and super-friendly
service. Lynn Shepard bought it from founder John Haluch two years ago, and has kept all the essentials
intact (including John’s recipes). She named it for her late husband, a serious
amateur golfer who bore an uncanny resemblance to Greg Norman. It’s a drive,
but it’s worth it.
CB: It would have
to be a drive if it’s named after Norman….
I’m very fond of Read’s (3130 East Henrietta Road,
Henrietta) which relocated from Greece
a year ago. It has good parking, which must be a necessity since I don’t see
too many folks walking there. The shop makes its own ice cream and ices. I’ve
never liked the flavored ice thing before, but I would go there just for the
lemon and tangerine ices — amazing texture and taste. The
made-on-the-premises ice cream was outstanding. Their selections
in flavors, styles, shakes… Ah, geez, I have
to go there now.
AW: Craig? Craig!
He’s a slave… Anyway, this is just the tip of the ice-cream-berg. For homemade,
the only other single-location joints I know of are Gitano’s (240 Waring Road.) and Buckman’s (2576
West Ridge Road), and I hate to give them short shrift. Buckman’s
has been making its own ice cream since — get this — 1914, and shows no
sign of letting up. It is “super premium” and super yummy. Plus, where else you
gonna go for a cone at 5 a.m.? Gitano’s isn’t open at
such obtuse hours, but it has been making homemade ice creams and ices for
years. I particularly like the sorbet, which is inexpensive and available
various places around town.
CB: OK, I’m back.
Read’s makes orange chocolate ice cream! Hey, did you mention Abbott’s yet?
AW: We’d be
flayed alive if we didn’t mention Abbott’s. Arthur Abbott started making his
smooth, frozen custard on Long Island more
than 100 years ago. The first local Abbott’s opened at Charlotte
60-some years ago, and the franchise has become a Rochester
institution with 24 upstate New York
shops (not including Bill Gray’s locations). I’m an ice cream guy myself, but
for folks born and bred on this stuff, there isn’t really anything else.
And there
are a ton of places that serve Perry’s, Hershey’s, or another commercial brand.
My family likes Hank’s (235 North Avenue,
Webster). ChooChoo Express (5138 Ridge Road West,
Spencerport) combines rock-bottom prices with a train and big dinosaur models;
naturally, it’s a hit with kids. And the combination of Thai food and ice cream
makes Churi’s (4615 Culver Road)
another winner. Must admit, I’m feeling a bit queasy at this point, though.
This article appears in Jun 14-20, 2006.
