Ice cream. There's a really good reason why the song isn't about how we all scream for asparagus. The slender vegetable is fine and dandy, sure, but it is not what are you jonesing for when it's 30-plus degrees outside and you've got a sweet tooth aching for something frosty, fun-coloured and just the right fit for your fist.
Ice cream. There's a really good reason why the song isn't about how we all scream for asparagus. The slender vegetable is fine and dandy, sure, but it is not what are you jonesing for when it's 30-plus degrees outside and you've got a sweet tooth aching for something frosty, fun-coloured and just the right fit for your fist.
In short, ice cream is the summer treat that everybody can agree on.
But where oh where can you get the best ice cream in all of sunny St. A? Sure, there's the Dairy Queen. Good ol' DQ has been serving up soft serves, Dilly bars and peanut buster parfaits for longer than I can remember. There's a frozen yogurt place or two to tickle your fancy too, plus you could just be lucky enough to hear the sweet, sweet music of the ice cream truck driving through your neighbourhood. The city is occasionally lucky enough to have the Da Vinci food truck park in various spots. People should visit www.streetfoodapp.com/edmonton/davinci-gelato to plan that one out though.
For my taste, I prefer my scoops to come from a pail in a freezer behind a curved window, and served by the hands of someone who knows the difference between a regular and a waffle cone. Take me to ye olde ice cream shoppe! There are three such bona fide frozen treat dispensaries in this fair burg and each offers something utterly unique … in addition to all that frozen deliciousness, of course.
Geppetto's Gelato – 18 Muir Dr.
Say you're driving on the trail heading southbound but the traffic jam is getting to you. It's so hot in your car that the beads of sweat on your forehead are bursting into little puffs of steam. Do yourself a favour and pull over where the turnoff is for Midas and the Brew Crew. There's a wee place of wonder tucked right in with Mane Attraction hair salon. In it, you will find the cure for all of your ice cream deprivation ills.
Co-owner Debra Garcia explained that offering two-dozen flavours of gelato and ice cream was just something that she and her husband, Victor, had to do.
“My husband, quite frankly, loves it! When he was growing up, he was a huge gelato fan … and he hadn't seen it. He fought for it and I couldn't say no.”
And Victor will talk your ear off about how good the stuff is too. There's Foothills and Chapman product in the freezer but he says that the primo gelato and sorbet comes straight from Edmonton's own premier maker, Pinocchio, a company that prides itself on the best ingredients and manufacturing processes.
There are no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, it's all gluten and MSG free, uses high-quality fruits and other mixes, and everything is made from scratch.
“It's old, old, old fashioned product,” he enthused, noting that the waffle cones are all made in house too.
While you could get your fill of sorbets (“they've really taken off this year,” he added), there's a range of ice cream and gelati flavours to suit any palate. Victor's fave: amaretto. Pinocchio's makes it especially for Geppetto's, as per his request. It's as delicious as the bacio or the pistachio, or the tartufo. Deborah currently loves the orange sorbet, which is light and refreshing with not a lot of sugar, she says.
That doesn't mean she doesn't sample any of the other varieties as often as possible.
“I patronize my business too much!”
Even those who are too finicky to enjoy banana-flavoured products have to try the banana ice cream, made with real organic bananas of course. Geppetto's opens after lunch and closes up at 10, giving you enough time to enjoy a late dessert on a hot summer's night if you so choose.
Midtown Apothecary – #100, 41 St. Thomas St.
You cried just like me and my kids did when Mootastic closed its corner doors on St. Thomas St. nearly a decade ago. Downtown ice cream screaming just hasn't been the same since.
That is until just recently when this old-timey pharmacy-slash-ice cream slinger strode into town. Midtown Apothecary is a throwback name on purpose. Owner Karen Moak always told herself that if she ever owned her own pharmacy then she would make it as authentic to her romantic sense of apothecaries as possible: with an ice cream counter.
“We wanted to make it feel like we're part of the community, which is what it really feels like,” she said, from her post in the historic Perron District. “We're getting lots and lots of interest. People like ice cream! They seem to be loving us, especially during the farmers' market.”
Midtown has 16 flavours of Foothills ice cream, most of which are gluten free, Cookie Dough and New York Cherry Cheesecake being the exceptions. There's Roly Poly (made with Rolo chunks – a decadent delight) or Green Tea (an acquired taste more suited to those not looking for a cloyingly sweet treat). Chocolate and Peanut Butter is Moak's fave, and for a good reason. Yum.
There's also the Root Beer or Orange Float flavours, the latter being the one that captures my fancy. It has that golden Orange Creamsicle taste that captured all of the summers from my youth. Bubblegum, Cotton Candy, Birthday Cake, and Mint Chocolate Chip are the most popular.
Slurpees, soft ice cream and Screamers (a mix of those two) are also being dispensed. That, plus they're open at 9 (10 on Sundays) for those who just can't wait for a morning mouthful of icy goodness.
What it might lack in selection though it certainly more than gains back in just having the right location. Maybe you're reading this at the farmers' market right now and suddenly have that indescribable craving for a cone on a hot day. Where are you going to go? Midtown is right there for you, thank the heavens. Plus, it's air-conditioned, and probably packed right now.
If you're also looking for a fine cuppa joe or java too then you can also pop across the street where La Cremma has a modest selection of gelati.
Marble Slab Creamery – #315, 140 St. Albert Tr.
This is the place to go to if you're looking for a bit of performance art along with your dessert. The Slab (as I call it) has its highly-trained staff mix in your candy fixings on a frozen counter much the same way you think of samurai sushi chefs prepping your fancy fish dinner.
It's also the place if you need the broadest of the broad selections of ice creams and their accoutrements. The store is nothing but ice cream and candy toppings from chocolate bars to sprinkles to gummy bears to nuts to what have you. This shoppe has got it.
“Aside from the ice cream and the topping selections that we have, and all the cones and the usual ice cream shop stuff, we also sell ice cream cakes and pies, one-litre tubs, ice cream cupcakes, and recently we added ice cream sandwiches,” said Aaron Nodelman, the manager of the chain's Village Landing location, adding the toppings list includes “dozens and dozens” of items.
The Slab also offers frozen yogurts, floats, smoothies, sundaes and the best banana split in town, if you ask me. They bake their own waffle cones too and the store opens at 11 a.m. just in time for the lunch crowd. Trust me, there will be a crowd but the store shuts down at 10 p.m. so you have lots of time.
As amazing as the array of choice is, half of the fun is always standing back and watching the staff prepare your order.
It's a top-notch show to match the top-notch creations. Everything is made in-house using Saputo cream. “The only thing we don't make are the candy toppings!” he stated.
Nodelman noted that the majority of their ice creams are allergen-free as well. They do offer some ‘no sugar added' and lactose-free options for those with special requirements.
“I've tasted them all. They're all great!” he exclaimed. One of the unique flavours here is the Red Velvet for those whose taste buds veer to the luxurious.
