By calling itself “finest ice cream”, Morgenstern’s is making a big declaration considering NYC isn’t exactly the home to the country’s best scoops. In fact, one of my main gripes with this town is that ice cream goes above and beyond to be so exotic, sometimes it’s really hard to find a basic soft serve cone that isn’t from a truck charging $8. It makes me long for the suburban quality of Colonia Dairy Maid. But, I really enjoy places like Soft Swerve and their inventive ube soft serve, and Milk Bar’s cereal milk flavor has become an old-reliable. I was aware of Morgenstern’s original Lower East Side shop thanks to the $20 King Kong Banana Split (also responsible for one of the best scenes on Master Of None). To me, Morgenstern’s was just another Ice & Vice or overly creative scoop shop, but upon reading about their flagship opening in SoHo and 88 flavor offering, something seemed different.
Yes, they have flavors like “Bread” and “French Fry”, and a ridiculous amount of vanillas, chocolates and refined American classics, but upon this week’s visit I am sold that they offer the finest ice cream in the city. The shop is a classic 1940’s style parlor, replete with sterile white counters and black and white penny tiles. The corner of Houston and West Broadway is a thriving business’s dream, and the sunshine pouring in through the stain glassed windows made the setting even more idyllic (bonus points for New Order blaring).
The ice cream is prepared in small batches, versus the mile long tubs you normally see. Batches are prepared in-house, using only the best ingredients… all which reminded me of Berthillon in Paris. Despite crowning Berthillon as the best ice cream I’ve ever had, Morgenstern’s comes in second. Their fastidious approach to quality (perhaps not as stringent as Berthillon’s top-secret recipes) and attention to flavor detail align these two businesses. I tried the Cherry-Chocolate Chip and the icy yet creamy texture, tart, almost natural tasting cherry flavor and crunchy dark chocolate chips were in sync – and took me back to that recent Summer’s day in Paris. I will be going back for more.
elbows on the table 