Time to scream for ice cream
Metro’s guide to newcomers and old faves where you can get in your first licks
It’s not like we don’t eat frozen treats all year round, but come summer there’s just no excuse not to fully indulge in one man’s finest achievements: cold, sweet ice cream.
New to the homemade ice cream ranks this year is Citrio. Former Vox Populi chef Eric Bogardus prepares the fresh fruits and other ingredients from scratch. There’s just one problem though, he’d like to stop adding food colorings that make, say, the pistachio flavor the acceptable shade of green that people demand. It really doesn’t taste better, he insists. Along with exotic summery fruit flavors like papaya, mango and peach, Citrio’s candy-colored pink champagne sorbet is refreshing and tastes just like champagne! It’s paler pink sister, the ginger and lychee flavor, is more demure: supremely creamy with a subtle hit of spice. (Cone or cup: small $3, medium $4, large $4.50, pints $5, quart $7.50)
2 Hartford St., Newton Highlands
617-969-1234
www.citrioboston.com
Boston is blessed with many neighborhood ice cream parlors like The Ice Creamsmith in Lower Mills. For 32 years, it has opened up from the first of March through Thanksgiving, making and selling small-batch ice cream (cone or cup: small $2.19, medium $3.48, large. $4.71). It doesn’t boast a mind-bogglingly huge flavor list, but that’s of no concern to the legion of devotees. The Ice Creamsmith was one of the first to “mix in” candies, cookies, nuts and stuff into its ice cream and each month two or three special flavors are added to its list of regular delights: This month, enjoy peach and birthday cake.
2295 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester
617-296-8567
www.theicecreamsmith.com
South End Italian restaurant Sage has launched a fun Wednesday “La Dolce Vita Gelato Night,” which continues through summer. It’s the adult version of a do-it-yourself sundae bar: An after-dinner treat that includes a changing menu of gelato flavors with Italian toppings such as chocolaty Nutella, crumbled biscotti and amaretto cookies. Sage’s summer gelato bar is set up from 8 to 11 p.m. and costs $8 per person.
1395 Washington St., Boston
MBTA: Orange Line to Back Bay
617-248-8814
www.sageboston.com
For those with health concerns over fat content, BerryLine is your friend. This tiny frozen yogurt shop is experiencing its first summer. The frozen yogurt comes in original, grapefruit, and Oreo flavors. Small costs $2.40, and has 125 calories; medium $2.90, 400 calories; large $4.30, well, we don’t know how many calories, but you probably shouldn’t order it if you need to ask. Add freshly chopped fruit toppings for a healthy sundae.
3 Arrow St., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard
617-868-3500
www.theberryline.com