Scooping Up San Francisco

Rain, fog or shine, San Franciscans appreciate a good scoop. No matter what the unpredictable San Franciscan weather may bring, this city’s citizens will patiently wait in a half hour plus line up for a lick of their favourite ice cream.
The Mission district seems to have the ice cream market all scooped up. Down the block from Tartine, Bi-Rite Creamery has been creating premium gourmet flavours using local Straus Family Farms’ milk and local organic ingredients in every ice cream. At least half a dozen people- both locals and travelers, tell me the “can’t miss” flavour here is salted caramel. I do a little sleuthing of my own and stumble upon ice cream guru and pastry chef David Lebovitz’s blog where he extols the virtues of Bi-Rite’s Mint Chip, informing me that organic mint oil and quality chocolate shards go into every batch.
It’s decided, Mario and I order one of each. We walk straight in and order at 11:05am. This is important to note only because the shop opens at 11am and there’s an almost perpetual lineup outside the door at all times, except at the very start of the day. I know, it’s a little early for ice cream, but we’re here to taste test the best and if that means taking one for the team, then we’re game.
Mario b-lines it for the salted caramel, I grab the mint chip and we sit down to compare flavours. Mario’s has the OMG factor- intense, caramelized sugar, perfectly creamy and balanced thanks to the salt. The Mint Chip is the embodiment of a good mint chip, but compared to the salted caramel, the flavour pales in comparison.
Out of journalistic integrity, I ask the affable chap behind the counter if I can try a teaspoonful of the summer-only flavour Balsamic Strawberry and the intriguingly named Ricanela. The strawberry is deft and subtle, but it’s the Ricanela- with its soft cinnamon notes and Mexican horchata (a rice and almond milk beverage) flavour swirled with flecks of Snickerdoodle candy that captures our taste buds. It’s like a Mexican birthday cake in every lick- si por favor!
Several blocks away, pastry chef Jake Godby can be found whipping up a variety of wild and wonderful flavours at his Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream shop. His simple royal blue and white shop with its fantastical double-headed cow logo has recently been written up in the New York Times for its more adult-focused flavours. Boccalone Prosciutto ice cream, Thai Chili Lime sorbet, and “Secret Breakfast” (Bourbon and corn flakes) are some of the unique flavours on offer.
We sit down to a scoop of Secret Breakfast, McEvoy Olive Oil, and Honey and Thyme ice cream. Next to us are two Manhattanites who find themselves in the largely Mexican Mission neighbourhood with brimming bowls of whimsical flavours. I ask them how they’re enjoying their scoops, “This is really very good quality ice cream,” says the lady in question who adds, “we get just about everything in New York City but we don’t quite have ice cream like this!” Her husband nods in agreement.
The hands-down favourite in our bowls is the Secret Breakfast- the bourbon adding a sophisticated, toffee like backdrop to the cornflake crunch ensconced in a creamy cloud. Humphry Slocombe’s ice cream can also be enjoyed in a Blue Bottle Affogato (espresso with a scoop of ice cream) at the Ferry Market Plaza Building and at Contigo in Noe Valley where the flavour is Blue Bottle Ice Cream served with a hot chocolate ganache and a crisp tuille. Good thing there are enough steep streets to keep the cardio levels up and the ice cream quotient in check!