We all need a sense of humor these days, huh Good Humor man?
Litigation and free chocolate are fun and all, but when it comes to what’s new with Jacques Torres, ice cream trumps fighting the man (doesn’t it always?). A few more details have surfaced on Mr. Chocolate’s latest endeavor: bringing his house-made ice cream to a new storefront in Dumbo and to two new carts, in the West Village and the Upper West Side. (This is no small thing, folks—if you recall, Torres was previously the vaunted pastry chef at Le Cirque.) According to Torres, this should all be happening within a month and a half (the storied ice cream truck will come later). More details after the jump.
At 62 Water Street, adjacent to his Dumbo factory, Torres plans on making two indoor stationary carts the focal point of his ice cream parlor. He also promises beverages, cupcakes (!), pints of ice cream to go and his already famous ice cream cookies. On the flavor front, there will be 12 rotating varieties. Though he hasn’t finalized what they’ll be, Torres assures the Feed that caramel, peanuts and (of course) chocolate will be involved, and there will also be sorbet. Torres emphasizes that while they’re not sure which dairy purveyor they’re going with, they will be making their own ice cream mix: “Ninety percent of ice cream makers in NYC don’t make their own mix.” Intriguing…
The same ice creams will be available at a cart inside the Hudson Street Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven, and Torres also revealed that they’ve just applied for a permit to sell ice cream outside of this Amsterdam Avenue shop. Now all that’s left to do is taste them.
We visited Jacques Torres’ new ice cream shop today and were sadly disappointed. We were asked to pay before choosing our ice cream, and were surprised that not all of the flavors listed were available (my husband had planned to get Chocolate Raspberry, which was on the list at the register but not actually in the freezer). I also had to pay extra for a cone! (Only the cups are free.) The freezer wasn’t working properly, so some flavors were melting while others were frozen solid. And once we actually tasted our cones (I got the Wicked while my husband ended up with plain chocolate), we both proceeded to soon throw them away. Very little flavor, no richness at all. And the plain chocolate didn’t even taste like chocolate. My cone also fell apart and almost made a mess of me. Not worth the trip to Dumbo!
I always stop about an hour out of NYC for great homemade ice cream that doesn’t let you down. It’s in Allentown, New Jersey and It’s called Swal Dairy. It has imaginative flavors, hometown friendly service, lots of opportunities for samples, seasonal flavors and great portions and prices. It is open from March to the end of November. Give up the high priced let downs and got to Swal …it’s on 333 Main Street just outside of Princeton. Enjoy!