out&about: 3 Scoops on Miami Ice Cream

AZUCAR ICE CREAM  *  1503 SW 8^th Street, Miami

A trip to Azucar Ice Cream in the heart of Little Havana on Miami’s famed “Calle Ocho” (Eighth Street) feels like a mini-vacation. The clacking of dominos mixes with drunken cheers from the men across the street passing the afternoon in straw hats and crisp linen guayabera shirts at Maximo Gomez Park. Founded in 2011, Azucar pays homage to a gifted and creative ice cream maker – the proprietor Suzanne Battle’s Abuela, or grandmother. The story goes…once Suzanne’s grandmother married her sugarmill engineer grandfather her destiny was set. Traveling throughout Central and South America for her husband’s work, this curious and enterprising lady made sweet, creamy ice cream from every new tropical fruit she encountered. And we are happy she did!

Taking the “eat local” craze to a new level, most of the fruits and ingredients for the many crazy, creative flavors are bought from markets no more than a few blocks away. The decor also celebrates the neighborhood with a stunning floor fashioned out of a hodgepodge of Cuban-style ceramic tiles and a colorful, oversized portrait of superstar songstress Celia Cruz, herself famous for dotting her performances with an energetic shout of “Azucar!” Flavors range from everyday to tropical to highly creative. The star is no doubt their signature “Abuela Maria,” featuring the classic Cuban flavors of sweet guava, tangy cream cheese and the crunch of the beloved cookies known as “Galettas Marias.”

 

LATTERIA ITALIANA  *  3301 NE First Avenue, #101, Miami

Inspired by the latterias, or milk stores in 1950’s post-war Italy, this midtown gelato shop does everything by hand using classic recipes. Thoughtfully arranged antiques bring warmth to the industrial cement-and-glass midtown space. In Italy, latterias are not only a place to get groceries, but also social hubs where one can linger over a snack or a coffee. They were, and in some towns still are, a place for lazy afternoons spent gathering and exchanging gossip.

 

At Latteria Italiana, the attention to quality is evident from the start as the ingredients are carefully sourced throughout Italy. All the nuts, for instance boast impressive pedigrees with almonds from Avola (Sicily), hazelnuts from Alba (Piedmont), and ridiculously creamy pistachios from the Bronte Valley (also Sicily). Summertime flavors include peach and lemon peel, but I opted for an intriguing salt and pepper pistachio.

 

CREAM PARLOR  *  8224 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami

The happiness at Cream Parlor is infectious. Every time the door opens, someone is greeted with broad smiles and warm fuzzies. This obviously comes from the top down as husband and wife owners, Ainsley and Johnny Tsokos are a delight. Stepping into Cream from bustling Biscayne Boulevard is entering another and time and place. Big glass jars of brightly colored toppings and newspaper racks jammed with quirky children’s books add the the mystique of this magical place where flavors are whimsically named “Come on Praline” or “Unicorn Poop” (long before Starbucks, people).

Just as any other ice cream shop worth its churning salt, Cream offers customers tastes of their flavors, but here they are given from a yard sale’s worth of mismatched silver tea spoons. After about a half dozen samples, I grabbed an old fashioned sugar cone with a gorgeous lavender scoop of Purple Rain, blackberry ice cream studded with raspberry-filled chunks of dark chocolate. I left cooled down, relaxed and wishing I didn’t have to return to real life, but happy to know I would be welcomed back.