ZAP Bites: Livin' the Ice Cream Dream
One of the many benefits of living in Los Angeles is that it’s always a great time for ice cream. Ice cream happens to be my Achilles heel when it comes to sweet treats, so I’ve definitely made it my mission to have as many scoops as possible.
I’ve been incredibly impressed by the artisan quality of the ice cream in Los Angeles. Ingredients you can pronounce, unique flavors and fresh ingredients are status quo. So far, these are some of my recommended “hot” spots:
- Beachy Cream (Santa Monica): Located on Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica, you can rely on Beachy Cream for 100 percent organic ice cream, pretzel cones and their friendly Beachy Cream Girls (the staff is dressed in retro attire). They have seasonal flavors along with their classics like Strawberry Surfer Girl and Mint Brownie. The ice cream on the cake is that Beachy Cream is dog friendly! Purchase a cone or sandwich and your pup gets a free doggy ice cream. *Photo credit: Beachy Cream
- Ice Cream Lab (Beverly Hills): Ice Cream Lab coins itself a delish experiment and that is indeed the case. At Ice Cream Lab, your ice cream is made to order using all-natural and organic ingredients….frozen with liquid nitrogen! I loved the Blue Velvet (vanilla bean ice cream with blue velvet cupcakes and cream cheese frosting) while my friend indulged in the Salt Lick Crunch (vanilla bean ice cream with crushed salted pretzels, homemade caramel sauce and sea salt). Go during an off time, watch your ice cream magically come to life and take a stroll down rodeo drive. Photo credit: Ice Cream Lab
- Milk (Beverly Bld, Los Angeles): Louis Vuitton said it best; “Milk is the epitome of ‘good things,’ featuring every dessert you craved when you were seven years old...” Milk offers everything you could ever imagine in an ice cream shop including ice cream macaroons, ice cream Sandwiches with homemade cookies, malts, sundaes and more. Since tres leches cake is one of my favorite deserts, I had to try the banana tres leches ice cream. We also had a chocolate hazelnut, chocolate chip cookie sandwich. The portions are large, but be prepared to finish every bite.
- Sweet Rose Creamery (Brentwood): Sweet Rose Creamery has a few locations in Los Angeles. They’re known for their fresh, seasonal ice cream flavors. Their flavors change monthly though they do have a few regulars like their mint chocolate chip with fresh mint, and caramel sea salt. The unique part about Sweet Rose is that you can choose between sweet or more savory flavors like Earl Grey. Their ice cream is made on-site and like the other places mentioned, the ingredients are 100 percent organic.
The other phenomenal part about Los Angeles is that most of the grocery stores carry local brands allowing me to get my fix any time of day.
There you have it- my top spots for ice cream. I still have a few other places on my list to check out like Carmella and Cool Haus. What are your favorite places?
- Nora Sarrawi, Vice President
Photo Credit: Huffington Post