Swimming in chocolate
A generous pool of dark chocolate sits at the bottom of the shallow bowl that cradles the salted caramel sundae ($10) served at ABC Kitchen, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s new environmentally conscious eatery inside ABC Carpet & Home. In that regard, it feels like a sundae you might cobble together while watching late-night TV — if only you had heavenly salted caramel ice cream, homemade candied peanuts and popcorn and fresh whipped cream on hand. “I really like the sweet and salty combination,” says pastry chef Cindy Bearman, who uses organic milk from grass-fed cows and cream from an upstate dairy for the top-selling concoction. In keeping with ABC Kitchen’s green ethos, most ingredients are local — except, that is, for the dark chocolate from Hawaii. The sundae can be ordered in the restaurant’s front bar, main dining space or café in back.
ABC Kitchen, 35 E. 18th St.; 212-475-5829
Old-School Mix Masters
They just don’t make milkshakes like they used to — unless you find yourself at Lexington Candy Shop Luncheonette, an old-time soda fountain established in 1925. Here, great shakes are made with Bassetts ice cream and a 70-year-old jadeite green Hamilton Beach mixer with matching Borden’s Malted Milk dispenser. Grab a seat at the worn counter and watch the magic happen — from rich chocolate malteds ($7.50) to bright orange freezes mixing just-squeezed juice and orange sorbet ($8.50). The best, though, may be the creamsicle freeze ($8.50), a vanilla milkshake blended with fresh-squeezed OJ. For longtime neighborhood clientele, the Depression-era equipment is key. Owner John Philis recalls the time he temporarily replaced the vintage mixer with a new machine: “It didn’t do as good a job — customers complained,” he says. And considering his customers include Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney — the latter has been dropping in ever since his then-girlfriend Linda Eastman lived across the street — it should come as little surprise that Philis has since purchased an antique backup for when the original mixer next needs repairs.
Lexington Candy Shop Luncheonette, 1226 Lexington Ave.; 212-288-0057
Pickup sticks
An eye-popping array of gelato, sorbetto and fro-yo on a stick ($3.75-$4.50) beckons passersby to Popbar, a tiny new Greenwich Village storefront. Pick from 20 flavors — from intense coffee gelato to fresh strawberry sorbetto — which can then be drizzled or dipped in chocolate (milk, dark, white) and rolled in chopped nuts, coconut and such (add $1). The indecisive will have a hard time, but winning combinations include espresso with dark chocolate and crumbled biscotti and pistachio with white chocolate and pistachio nuts. Small batches of pops are made on-premises using mostly imported Italian ingredients, though milk and fruit are supplied locally. Since they’re not exactly cheap, we dropped by the corner Mister Softee for an impromptu comparison: The $2.50 Good Humor Toasted Almond was cloyingly sweet — fine for a kid but not for a discerning adult with a few extra bucks to blow.
Popbar, 5 Carmine St.; 212-255-4874
Cake in a Cup
At coolly designed Midtown steakhouse Quality Meats, you don’t need to wait for your birthday to indulge in ice-cream cake. For the summer season, the small marble charcuterie bar in the front of the restaurant has been transformed into an ice-cream station serving “Quality Cakes” — individual ice-cream cakes served in a cup ($8) and available to go with a bamboo spoon. Flavors include Cherry Monkey (banana cake with vanilla icing and pistachio-cherry ice cream) and Monster Mash (peanut butter cake with caramel icing and chocolate “cookie monster” ice cream), but our favorite is the pretty-in-pink Pie Smash — luscious blueberry cake layered with billowy raspberry icing and tangy lemon meringue ice cream. “We wanted to wow people,” says pastry chef Cory Colton, who attended Ice Cream University in Hastings-on-Hudson (yes, there actually is such a thing). Pints of ice cream in creative flavors like coconut macaroon and “coffee & doughnuts” are also available.
Quality Meats, 57 W. 58th St.;
212-371-7777
La dolce vita
An unlikely name for a delicious sundae if there ever was, the olive-oil coppetta ($11) at Mario Batali’s Greenwich Village pizzeria Otto is a study in bright summer contrasts. From June until September, lush olive-oil gelato is capped with passion-fruit granita (a kind of shaved ice), macerated strawberries, lime curd and basil syrup — the tart toppings providing a counterpoint to the fattiness of the gelato. A cult favorite since Otto opened in 2003, the gelato still gets astonished reactions from customers. “If they try it, I’m happy,” says pastry chef Meredith Kurtzman, noting the grassy nuance olive oil adds to vanilla gelato. A simplified recipe was published in the restaurant’s cookbook, “Molto Gusto,” but the actual recipe is quite technical and closely guarded. “Any assistant who leaves with the secret is found with cement in their feet in the East River,” Kurtzman says, adding, “Not really.”
Otto, 1 Fifth Ave.; 212-995-9559
Fire and ice
Celebrated chef Daniel Boulud likes to joke that the only other place you’re likely to encounter omelette norvegienne — the retro dessert also known as Baked Alaska — is on a cruise ship. While that, of course, is an exaggeration, the impressive meringue-covered ice-cream cake, first popularized in the 19th century, is about as common as aspic at modern-day dinner parties. Thankfully, it’s being revived and updated at Boulud’s bustling brasserie DBGB, where it’s made with almond sponge cake, vanilla and verbena ice cream, raspberry sorbet and fresh meringue that’s flambéed tableside with a shot of herbal chartreuse liqueur ($18; serves two). A delightful interplay of hot and cold — with homemade seasonal ice creams replacing the usual store-bought vanilla — it’s likely to elicit lots of oohs and aahs from your table. Or, as pastry chef Mimi Eberhardt puts it, “Setting things on fire at the table — it’s like ‘Wow.’ ” Best of all, it can be enjoyed in the more casual walk-in cafe.
DBGB Kitchen and Bar, 299 Bowery; 212-933-5300