BY STEPHANIE AMY COLLAZO
Van Leewen Artisan Ice Cream
Various Locations in Manhattan:
8am- 6pm 5th Ave @ 15th Street
8am-10am 6th Ave @ 22nd St
10am- 4pm 23rd @ 5th Ave
4pm-6pm 5th ave @ 22nd St
718 701-1630 / vanleeuwenicecream.com/
* New store now open in Greenpoint, Brooklyn: 632 Manhattan Ave.
Close up of the Van Leewen Artisan Ice Cream Truck
We’ve all had our love affair with Mr. Softee, spending summers running up to the truck ordering soft serve ice cream covered in rainbow sprinkles, but now that we are older and no longer transform into rabid beasts over the sound of an ice cream truck approaching, Van Leeuwen’s Artisan Ice Cream Truck is supplying us ex-Softee lovers with a more adult appropriate menu.
[Truck photo: Van Leewen Artisan Ice Cream Truck]
The buttercup yellow Van Leeuwan truck’s can be found at various locations throughout the day, serving up their frozen treats made from locally sourced organic milk, cream and eggs.
Van Leewen Truck menu
The menu includes gourmet flavors like red current, ginger hazelnut and giandujia as well as old favorites like vanilla, chocolate and pistachio. But this isn’t your run of the mill vanilla ice cream, Van Leeuwen’s Tahitian vanilla ice cream is chock full of fresh vanilla bean flavor.
Medium giandujia ice cream
While on my way home I passed by one of the Van Leeuwen trucks and decided to see what all the fuss was about. Since it was late in the day, they had already sold out of a few of their more popular flavors, like hazelnut, but there was still quite a selection available considering it was well after 8 p.m. On my visit I decided to order a medium giandujia ($5.75) to split with a friend. The giandujia is a blend of their Michel Cluizel chocolate with rich Piedmont Hazelnuts.
The ice cream was light and creamy. Neither of the flavors were too strong, comparable to the flavor of nutella. Although some reviews I have read have complained about the portion size to price ratio I found that a medium was a large enough portion for two.
While the ice cream is a little expensive, the quality of the ingredients makes it well worth the price.
