Trudy
I have a huge sweet tooth and being lactose intolerant really gets in the way of that sometimes because I usually get rid of that craving is through ice cream. And the other problem is that great tasting dairy free alternatives aren’t always readily available, depending on where you live, as is the case for me. So whenever I find another place to get your sweet tooth needs met I have to tell you about it.
So on an unplanned Saturday evening, as is usually the case for me, I was out with my friend Karina, we both wanted ice cream and I made her walk from the East Village to Greenwich Village for Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream. Van Leeuwen has been around for a while but I’ve never had the opportunity to get to the shop or one of the two trucks they have in Manhattan and Brooklyn daily. The shop is on a tree-lined block on 152 West 10th Street and so tiny if you blink you’ll miss it. It’s such a charming little shop, I love the atmosphere! There is a little banquette to sit on and the menu is on a chalkboard that changes its specials often. So cute! I had a lot of trouble deciding what to order and the staff is so helpful with the free samples. I finally chose vegan Bulgarian rose with cherry jam and cardamom cake bits and vegan banana nut and Karina chose cookie dough and cookies and cream flavor. My flavor sounds so extravagant, doesn’t it?
Just from the picture, I dare you not to drool. The Bulgarian rose flavor was so refreshing! I think it’s my new favorite and the banana nut was like an iced creamy muffin.
I did a great job choosing! I pat myself on the back for that one. I’m going to take every opportunity to make that walk to 152 West 10th street in the West Village, now that I’ve been. Van Leeuwen has five locations in NYC and three in Los Angeles, I hope that you get to try it out when you visit. You should put a gold star next to it on your list of places to go, it’s special.
Do you have a sweet tooth? How do you deal with your cravings? Tell me about it in the comments section below, I’d love to hear about it.
Until our next rendezvous…
XOXO
Trudy
One of our favorite ice cream places in the city! We even go there in the winter. (They keep the store warm and toasty so you don’t suffer until after you leave!) 🙂
Do you have any other favorites?
Another one we love is Morgenstern’s on Rivington, but for dairy-free you’d have to go with the sorbets. If you like chocolate, the chocolate sorbet at Mo Gelato is pretty rich!
Thanks for the suggestions!
How big is your sweet tooth, Trudy? I have 28 of them. From the your photos, I’m sure Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream would satisfy all 28 of mine.
Lol it really depends how my week has gone. So I figure between four and twelve? Hopefully on one of your drives you’ll be able to stop there.
Dark chocolate is my choice of satisfying my sweet tooth! I do however, enjoy ice cream now and then. Just had some incredible Italian gelato in Holland last week. Crazy cherry and also Biscottini!
Your ice cream store sounds delicious! We have one in Portland called Salt & Straw. They too have great and unusual flavors. Great post and I love the pictures! Makes me want to stop by and meet up with you for an ice cream cone!
We can definitely do that! I love it because it delicious but dairy free. Dairy free products sometimes taste flat. And I was happily disappointed with Van Leeuwen. Wow I have to check out your posts of Holland!
I generally avoid ice cream, because i sometimes have a unpleasant reaction to it! But real Gelato in Europe sometimes makes me throw caution in the wind! At home I buy an incredibly yummy coconut milk ice cream! 🙂
Just downloading my pictures from the trip! Been working on overcoming jet-lag all week!
Yes I love coconut milk ice cream. Van Leeuwen uses cashew milk, coconut milk and banana in their vegan ice creams so it’s creamy and delicious like full fat ice cream.
Yum!
Understandable about the jetlag.
Almost back to normal! 🙂
nice post, I have already had an ice-cream but now I have to have another one. I have only been to NYC 3 times, one on holiday and two for work. So on Lexington there the little deli the bread factory. As you walk up to central park, past blooming dales I think the next block. oh man, it was my place to go for lunch time food, fresh pasta, pizza, salade, grilled sandwiches, I am a very fussy vegetarian and not a bad cook (cheeky me – self prompting my cooking – my mum might not always agree)… Oh my mouth waters…
Like your post.
Thank you for visiting me! New York is the place to be a fussy vegetarian! So many options here. Hope you visit again soon, for something mouth-watering.
Looks delicious! I love ice cream! My favorite is Butter Pecan. I’m also a big fan of Strawberry Twizzlers. ?
Do you eat them together? Lol
No lol ?
I’ve only had their ice cream from the yellow trucks, but have seen their shop in Cobble Hill all the time. I’m glad you were able to find yummy, dairy-free ice cream 🙂
It’s the same ice cream in the trucks but I don’t think that they have the specials there. It was really delicious, thank you.
the ice-cream look so good, it is over 105 degrees of heat here today
I’m in Los Angeles…
I’ve heard about the weather there. Tomorrow there will be relief from the rain, hopefully.
take a look at my blog, to see if you’d be interested to cowrite something
I am not an exceptionally sweet tooth person though I love ice cream salted caramel with chopped pecans and drizzled with maple syrup has been my best yet. I found it on the board walk at Cowachin bay on Vancouver island, last October. It was an artisan bar over looking the water. The whole experience was amazing, the choosing the watching of it’s construction, the ambience, and the taste. Now I am drooling.
Ha ha, they had a salted caramel as well I believe.
But the pecans and maple the combination was *drool* still “yum” ? happy weekend.
I enjoyed your blog post and pictures. I, too, am lactose intolerant and dairy free ice cream sounds yummy! I think my flavor choice would be butter pecan with caramel sauce. 🙂
It is super yummy! You should try it.
Oh now you’ve made me want ice cream! We don’t get great ice cream here in England so I always make sure I get my gelato fix when I visit Europe. Love stracciatella, pistachio and amarena the best!
Really?!! I would think that there is lots of choices in England. Since I am lactose intolerant, sometimes I have to take my chances with milk.