…Chelsea screams for Ice Cream! Consider this the fourth
installment of our high-stakes Gelato Competition, though we must confess, we
opted for good old fashioned Ice Cream this time around.
For today’s tasting, we chose Van Leeuwen Ice Cream. Van
Leeuwen is a food truck success story, as they have recently opened three
retail locations, one in Manhattan, and two in Brooklyn. And that’s in addition
to their ice cream trucks, which, pun intended, just keep on trucking!
For today’s tasting, lovely New York Office Manager and
Production Assistant, Pietra, took advantage of the beautiful fall afternoon to
take a walk to the shop. In accordance with some of our previous tastings, we
stuck with the classics, Vanilla, Chocolate (Mast Brothers!), Pistachio, and
Cookies & Cream. Not a bad line up, though they do have some very exotic
flavors to choose from! Think Corn, and Pumpkin. Sounds delicious.
The Ice Cream was hand packed by default in very Chelsea-esque
recycled brown paper pint containers. Bonus Points for Van Leeuwen! As for the
ice cream itself, the results were favorable. Pietra’s favorite was the Mast
Brother’s Chocolate, which, if you know Pietra, should come as no surprise. And
apparently, Drew owes Pietra a Mast Brothers (of Brooklyn) Chocolate Bar
($11.99, and yes, they’re worth it!). It’s his own fault, but he will make good
on his promise. Dan heavily touted the Cookies & Cream, and noted that Van
Leeuwen was better than most gelato establishments that Chelsea has sampled in
the past.
All told, based on flavor, with bonus points for
aesthetically pitch-perfect packaging, Chelsea rates Van Leeuwen a 9, although
Lisa notes that “If we had tried the roasted banana, I’m sure I would have given
it a 10.”