Conscious Choice: Local Ice Cream: We All Scream, with Good Reason

August 2006 | Conscious Dining

Local Ice Cream: We All Scream, with Good Reason

By Janine MacLachlan

In August, our attention turns to the dog days. That part of summer inevitably turns too warm and too moist, yet at the same time calls for us to squeeze as much enjoyment into the time remaining before Labor Day inflicts a back-to-school mentality on everyone, even those of us who graduated during the Reagan era. Oh, the pressure. I see only one solution to the keep cool/have fun challenge of late summer: ice cream.

Granted, my mind is seldom far from ice cream, and a compelling ice cream flavor, like ginger, cinnamon or roasted strawberry, will make me choose a pie, cake or crumble that might otherwise seem uninspired. With grocery stores serving up “Slow Churned,” not to mention fat-, sugar- and flavor-free frozen desserts, I thought it might be time to put my tastebuds on the line and venture out to see what the locals have in store for people seeking creamy treats.

So Much Ice Cream, So Little Time

I limited my search for worth-the-indulgence ice cream within the city limits, only because this column has limited space. In past taste adventures, I identified a number of great ice cream in the ’burbs, most notably Peterson’s in Oak Park, Massa in Elmwood Park and Village Creamery in Skokie and Niles, all of which make their own ice cream. But with so much ice cream, and so little time, I’m sharing a few Chicago cone destinations sure to please.

Bobtail Soda Fountain’s ice creams are made on site at its Lake View location from third-generation family recipes. With additional outposts on Southport and at Buckingham Fountain, a cone is always within reach. As with most ice cream parlors, classic flavors like pistachio and strawberry are always on the menu, but Bobtail takes some creative license with distinctive flavors like Lakeview Barhopper, chocolate and bourbon; Daley Addiction, vanilla fudge swirl; and Signature Sunset, merlot ice cream with chocolate chips. Commuters can pop in for English muffin breakfast sandwiches to go with their ice cream lattes featuring Intelligentsia, our local roaster whose flagship location is just a few blocks up from Bobtail’s Lake View shop. Be sure to snag a club card, so when you go back for a dip of peanut butter and chocolate, you can get another stamp towards a freebie.

Granted, Sweet Occasions and More serves ice cream that’s not exactly local—Chocolate Shoppe ice cream is family owned and churned in Madison, Wis., the heart of America’s dairy land, close enough (and small enough) for my money. It’s a company that cares about quality and lets the local owners focus on their frothy four-layer cakes, scones and a wide selection of sandwiches. Sweet Occasions is a contemporary, warm interpretation of a classic ice cream parlor, with pumpkin-toned accents on the walls and tumbled marble café tables at both the Ravenswood location near the Brown Line and a newer, larger Andersonville spot. On the way to the ice cream case, I passed a literal wall of hard candies, and had to resist grabbing a handful of butterscotch in order to turn my full attention to the Zanzibar chocolate, the most deeply decadent cup of indulgence I’d enjoyed since, well, since my last visit to Bobtail. A close runner-up is Fat Elvis, banana ice cream rippled with peanut butter and chocolate. All in the interest of science, folks.

It would be easy to drive right by The Penguin’s nondescript location without knowing this is a don’t-miss ice cream treasure. The warm hospitality and great taste stem from youthful owner José Curci, born in Argentina to Italian parents, who learned the art of ice cream in the Buenos Aires family shop operated by his in-laws. He brought his expertise, and his own family, to the States and now makes gelato-style ice cream in-house. My favorites are sabayon, made with marsala wine, and three variations on dulce de leche: straight up, with nuts and with chocolate chips. As if this indulgence weren’t enough, Curci embellishes the almond chocolate and other flavors with nuts caramelized in butter and sugar before stirring into the ice cream. Curci’s Italian dad is master of the pizza oven, serving up authentic thin-crust pizza and calzones.

Sukhadia’s Sweets, an Indian sweet shop in the heart of Devon Avenue, gets milk from Fox Valley Farm to stir up tried-and-true standards like chocolate butter pecan, but the adventurous opt for lychee, cashew or saffron pistachio. The recipes, created by owner Jayant Sukhadia, are based on a 120-year-old Indian tradition of reducing the milk to thicken it.

The Final Word

One thing that struck me is how warm and friendly all the employees were at these various establishments. We could speculate that perhaps they were responding to my joyful exuberance about this month’s topic, but my guess is that it’s just a happy job to work around ice cream.

Bobtail Soda Fountain, 2951 N. Broadway, Chicago, 773-880-7372. Open 7 a.m. – 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. – midnight Friday. Southport location at 3425 N. Southport, Chicago, 773-248-6104. Open 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 6 a.m. – midnight Friday. Both locations open 8 a.m. – midnight Saturday, 8 a.m. – 11 p.m. Sunday. Buckingham Fountain location, 525 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. Open 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. through Labor Day, weekend hours through mid-October.

Sweet Occasions and More, 5306 N. Clark, 773-275-5190. Open 7 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 7 a.m. – 12:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Ravenswood location at 4639 N. Damen, 773-293-3080. Open 6:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 6:30 a.m. – 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The Penguin, 2723 W. Lawrence, Chicago, 773-271-4924. Open 1 – 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon – 9 Sunday.

Sukhadia’s Sweets, 2559 W. Devon, Chicago, 773-338-5400. Open 10:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Janine MacLachlan is a freelance writer and ice cream enthusiast who’s willing to indulge in a cup or cone whether she has a writing assignment or not.

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