On the way to Flemington, New Jersey for a birthday party I stopped off in Ithaca, New York to break up the trip from Toronto.
My waitress one night was effusive with her praise about 32 Below Ice Cream Shop located in Van Etten New York. So effusive in fact it necessitated a visit from a person who is not wild about ice cream.
It is a 23-minute drive from Ithaca. The ice cream parlour is not hard to miss in a town with a population a bit shy of 500. Simple and plain describes the décor. No Manhattan trendy nonsense.
My waitress said the owner, Craig Ahart, was a 25-year-old who learnt the ice cream trade in Florida. I think Craig is closer to thirty but I suppose that categorizes him as a whippersnapper.
Whoever taught Craig the secrets of ice cream small batch production did a thorough job. Small batch means 1.5 gallons of ice cream. My double scoop of Frankenstein was monstrously exceptional and it consisted of vanilla ice cream, Ghirardelli chocolate, Nescafe coffee and dark chocolate chips and at $4 more than a fair price.
His ice cream is made from fresh cream from Upstate Farms. In addition to ice cream one can delight with gelato, sorbet and Italian ice.
It is located on 5 Railroad Street.
And yes, it is worth the 23-mile drive from Ithaca.
Set the Bar 