David Rosengarten's Picks for "Best Ice Creams in America"
July 6, 2002

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David Rosengarten, of Food TV fame, and author of The Rosengarten Report, has the job we dream about: He travels around tasting, comparing, and writing about the best the food world has to offer. Here are some of his top picks in premium ice creams:

Note: Many small producers of ice creams do not ship. However, David says most are available from a Wisconsin company that he thinks is excellent: www.icecreamsource.com.

Crème Crémaillére, Bedford, New York
David tasted the strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla flavors made in the kitchen of La Crémaillére, a French restaurant in the tony suburb of New York City. He says the strawberry might be the best of its kind in the country; the chocolate is dark, intense, and looks almost like fudge; and the vanilla, studded with tiny black flecks, is the "serious-vanilla" variety and the sweetest of the three flavors.

Graeter's Famous French Pot Ice Cream, Cincinnati, Ohio
Founded in 1870, this is Heartland ice cream at its best, David says. His favorite flavors were Black Cherry, a sensuous blend of egg-enriched cream and huge chunks of winy black cherries, and Toffee Chip, a serious blast of cream, butter, nuts, caramel, and chocolate flavors.

Jeremy's Microbatch Ice Cream, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
David tasted only two ice creams, but pronounced them "practically holy," and "among the very greatest ice creams I have ever put in my mouth." Quite an endorsement, but alas, there's some bad news: Jeremy's has gone bankrupt. The good news is that the folks at icecreamsource.com have a number of pints tucked away in the depths of their freezers. Order soon before it's gone to experience for yourself what David calls "something truly extraordinary."

Blue Bunny Premium, Le Mars, Iowa
For budget-priced ice cream, this is it! Founded in 1913, Blue Bunny is available only in low-end supermarkets and Walmart Supercenters. The Vanilla is creamy and smooth with an intense finish; the Double Strawberry is a sumptuous mix of big dairy flavor and swirls of strawberry; and the Chocolate is sweet, rich, and intense.

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