Little + Simple: Il Gelato Come Una Volta (Ice Cream as it should be)

Straight from Italy hails the perfect gelato. I love ice-cream. I have a hard time staying away from it, in fact. Hot humid summer days are usually the time when I succumb to this delcious frozen treat. However, it's hard to find genuine and traditonal gelato these days. It's hard enough to find something sweet that doesn't have corn syrup in it - ah the staple of American dessert confections!

I believe I inherited my love for ice-cream from my Dad. He was always a big fan of 'glaces Berthillon.' When I was younger, I liked sorbets better - raspberry and mango was my go-to combination. As I grew older, I started liking rich and creamy flavors like 'canelle' (cinnamon) and nutella. I have savored many different recipes, and Vanilla is my ultimate front-runner. I enjoy the different variations and subtleties vanilla presents. From Tahitian to Bourbon, what we think of simple vanilla offers a rainbow of varying aromas depending on the provenance of the pods!

I stumbled upon GROM in Manhattan's West Village one afternoon. I wasn't particularly hungry, but I surrendered to a small scoop of their Yogurt gelato. Nothing like frozen yogurt, it perfectly captured the thick velvety acerbity of a really good plain yogurt. When I got home, I researched GROM a little further.

The gelateria debuted in Turin, Italy, in 2003 with one goal: 'offrire il meglio' (to offer the very best). GROM is committed to traditional Italian gelato-making processes using high-quality ingredients. Organic milk and eggs, fresh in-season fruit, and the best coffee and cocoa from Central America are used to prepare unique and handmade flavors free of unnatural additives and colorings.

I went back to GROM yesterday to put it to the ultimate test - taste-test their 'Vaniglia' (Bourbon Vanilla from Madagascar) gelato. Of course, I also gave in to the 'Nocciola' (Nougat) and 'Bacio' (Venezualan Chocolate and Piedmont Hazelnut). My heart dropped -the most amazing ice-cream I have had since Barbarac in Saint Tropez (also a terrific ice-cream shoppe). Rich, smooth, sweet, and creamy... This is ice-cream as it should be.

GROM
233, Bleecker Street
(and Carmine)
Greenwich Village
New York City
Tel. (+1) 212 206 1738

2165, Broadway
(and 76th)
Upper West Side
New York City
Tel. (+1) 212 362 1837