Best Ice Cream in Rhode Island 2012

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Ann & Michael Martini, GoLocalProv Food Editors

As the "dog days" become those beautiful fall weekends we all love, we revisited a round-up that we always associate with summer but enjoy all year around. Good ice cream can be described with the best of culinary words: creamy, rich, sweet, buttery, fresh, seasonal...they all apply. We set out to find 5 places that will satisfy that craving for all things ice cream and came back with sticky fingers, full bellies and 5 good choices...

Gray's, Tiverton

For as long as we can remember "50 Shades of Gray's" meant something totally different than it does today. It meant the long pilgrimages to Tiverton for fresh, house made ice cream in all the classic flavors you love. For more than 80 years ice cream lovers have been making this trek and coming back happy and sated. This is the ice cream place from your childhood dreams. From the look of the stand to the density and flavor of the ice cream, this is old-school heaven. Imagine a rotation of up to 50 flavors all made on site just like Annie Gray did way back in the 1920's. There are new flavors, but we find ourselves craving the classics: strawberry, maple walnut and the classic coffee. The coffee was creamy and tasted just enough like coffee to make a Starbucks stop unnecessary and the maple walnut was everything we wanted, with fresh walnuts and great maple flavor. 16 East Pond Rd. 624-4500, www.graysicecream.com

Ice Cream Machine, Cumberland

Ice Cream Machine was voted our most overlooked ice cream destination from last year's list, so it was at the top of our must try list for 2012. We appreciate the advice as we loved Ice Cream Machine. Although we live in a "fresh and local" food culture, it says something that the largest food company in the world SYSCO chooses to sell Ice Cream Machine products to their other restaurant clients. People love this place and we did too! We decided to try the crazy flavors here and not stick to our usual fall-backs. That left us with nothing to compare the Bubblegum or Dinosaur Crunch to, but also no preconceived notions of what they should taste like. We found everything we tried to be fun and flavorful. The jimmies--or sprinkles if you're not from around here--and other toppings were fresh, which is a trick in this humidity. We will definitely be back for some Ice Cream Machine ice cream cake love! 4288 Diamond Hill Rd. 333-5053, www.icecreampie.com

The Vanilla Bean, Matunuck

This one speaks to the kid inside us. Growing up in Matunuck every summer, the Vanilla Bean was the site of first cones, first kisses and first lime rickeys. Returning as an adult it seems crazy that all of that fun went on in this little location. What hadn't changed, however, was the quality of the ice cream. They serve the wonderful Bliss Bothers ice cream. We rekindled our love of cabinets by enjoying an Oreo cookie version that was just the right consistency--started with a spoon and finished with a straw--and had plenty of creamy flavor. We also enjoyed a pineapple/banana smoothie that was both delicious and refreshing. The Bean has also added cool upscale coffee drinks that would have been a hit back in the day. The vibe remains the same, though, laid back and casual and the ice cream is still high quality. It makes you feel good to be eating ice cream in the same place you did when you were ten years old. 757 Matunuck Beach Rd.

Hill-Top Creamery, East Greenwich

Have you ever heard of an ice cream place where people camp out on opening day to be in front of the line like it's a concert? Well, now you have. This one we discovered as adults and it's just as satisfying as the whole childhood memory thing. We are grateful for the traffic that sent us in the direction of Post Road and Hill-Top that night--although the waistline isn't too happy. We found this little shack cranking out tasty confections and decided to stop. We've been back 5 times in a 6 month span! This has become our go-to location for soft serve around home. We totally get the devotion people feel for this stuff. They have every flavor imaginable but our niece Sarah swears the vanilla with rainbow jimmies is as perfect as it gets. 5720 Post Rd. 884-8753

Cold Fusion Gelato, Newport

If the best restaurants in the state were an ice cream joint it would be Cold Fusion. In fairness to ice cream it really can't compare to gelato when it comes to creamy goodness. Gelato usually has less fat than ice cream so the flavor is more intense--fat tends to dull flavor as it coats the palette--and the slower churn makes a denser, richer and more flavorful frozen dessert. Get the Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla and do a taste test with your favorite vanilla. You will see the difference. And this isn't just run of the mill gelato either. This is as well-made as you can find outside of Italy. Not a gelato fan? Looking for something lighter? The folks at Cold Fusion also make an award winning line of sorbets. Epicourious.com called Cold Fusion's mango gelato the best they had tried, even beating giant Haagen Daz in a taste test. The next time you're strolling the waterfront in Newport, check them out and try the olive oil or pistachio gelato. It is a little piece of heaven. 389 Thames St. 849-6777, www.coldfusiongelato.com

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Comments:

John Ghiorse

8:07am on Thursday, August 16, 2012

Don't forget Little Rhody on Route 2 in West Warwick ... mmmmmmmmmm

lauren carson

2:40pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012

Holy Cow in Ashaway. Take a ride down there. It is the best.

J. Ferreira

4:53pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012

When I was a kid, visiting relatives, my grandparents and my family all made the pilgrimage to Gray's because my grandfather was addicted to their coffee ice cream. He, my dad and my uncle all went tot he window to place the order and came back to the cars, each balancing several cones. They handed them out and my grandfather (whose trip this was, remember) went to take that first delicious lick when the ice cream detached itself from the cone and fell with a "plop" on the ground. Everyone started laughing, of course, but I went to him and said, "Here Grandpa, you can have mine." However, he hated my flavour (peanut butter fudge) and he was so angry about dropping the ice cream when he could just taste his favourite treat, he barked at me "Get in the car." I immediately got into the car, upset of course because Grandpa never got angry, and I asked my mom what I did wrong and why didn't Grandpa just get another one? She explained it wasn't anything I did, but his upbringing during the Great Depression meant you didn't waste anything and if you did, you shouldn't expect to get another. So we drove away with Grandpa fuming and for the rest of his life, whenever we wanted to tease him, we reminded him of that day at Gray's, which of course elicited the response of "Shaddap, I STILL miss that coffee ice cream cone!"