Baltimore Iced Treats

By Greg B. Summer is coming to a close, and I’m doing what any good, respectable male will do every few months… cleaning out the large quantity of business cards that collect in the wallet.  In doing so, I came across two businesses which I had forgotten, but will mention now (so I can throw out the cards!).  One is an ice cream company and another is a gelato…. place?  gelateria?  Whatever, a place that sells gelato.  One ranks high on my list and the other ranks low.

The first place is Dominion Ice Cream, a strange company that mixes vegatables into ice cream in the hopes of making people eat veggies and that people will use this as a “healthy” form of junk food.  Now, I just watched an episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown makes both granola and protein bars from scratch which are healthier and cheaper than the store bought ones.  This seemed to be a good approach at reworking old junk food standbys.  Veggie ice cream, however, lacks…. well, it lacks taste.  I saw a stand at Artscape, and tried several samples and eventually got a cup of the ’spinach’ ice cream.  The ice cream wasn’t too bad, was a nice light green color (which translates into ‘lime’ from male to female color comprehension, as Gabi informs me).  But it tasted bland, or, slight like vanilla.  Not too sweet, which was nice, but also just had no real flavor to back itself up.  They also offered sweet potato ice cream, which tasted suspiciously just like the spinach ice cream, and both of which tasted very much like the vanilla they had as a sample.  It seems to me more of a curiosity food or novelty food to try once than an ice cream I wanted to eat regularly. You can find them and try them for yourself at www.dominionicecream.com or, apparently, www.eatyourvegsicecream.com  They can be found in a physical location at 3120 St. Paul St, Baltimore MD 21218.

The second place I will mention, which I think is very good, is the gelato place in Fells pt, Pitango Gelato, located at 802 S. Broadway, Baltimore MD 21231.  www.pitagogelato.com.  They have a large selection of gelato to choose from, and give you the opportunity to mix flavors, by the scoop in a cup.  Personally, I loved the roasted almond and bourbon vanilla, it makes such a great flavor when combined.  But their citrus flavors also are very refreshing, even my younger sister, who is entering that 17 year old, snobby, bratty phase with a gusto AND who just got back from a trip to Italy last spring, said the gelato was ‘alright, I guess’, which is about as resounding an endorsement as she can possibly give.  But honestly, this gelato place is excellent, the service is quick, you can get taste tests of whatever flavors you want and the prices are reasonable for the quality of product you receive.  There is always a crowd out front, day and night, and if you haven’t tried it yet, you need to go find out why.