Carmela Ice Cream: A swirl of spring in a cup

Northeast Pasadena might seem like kind of an unlikely place for an artisan creamery like Carmela Ice Cream -- that is, unless you've been to Bulgarini Gelato, which is even more remotely located in Altadena. But when I stopped in to Carmela today in the midst of the sudden heatwave, the shop was full of neighborhood families sampling the luxuriously creamy stuff, made from Clover organic cream, super fresh fruits and locally grown flowers and herbs. Carmela has been selling at the South Pasadena and Hollywood Farmer's Markets for a few years now, but it's nice to be able to stop by the storefront if you happen to be going for a hike in Eaton Canyon or a shopping trip at Hastings Ranch. Plus, there's a promising basturma shop next door, since Washington Blvd. is Pasadena's own Little Armenia.
Carmela's ice creams are rich and silky but not heavy or cloying, and the fruit flavors are particularly refreshing. I'm mad about the strawberry buttermilk, which tastes like the essence of spring and would be perfect atop an Easter shortcake. Fresh mint with chocolate nibs is assertively minty with nary a hint of bottled extract or green coloring. Dark chocolate with cocoa nibs is just that, but not so bitter it will scare the children. My love for the salted caramel has already been well-documented. Other flavors perfect for the heat include tangelo sorbet, cucumber sorbet and lemon basil sorbet. Carmela's not a sceney place -- there's only a dozen or so flavors at a time, none of them involving balsamic vinegar, blue cheese or beer. It's simply great ice cream, and isn't that enough?
Carmela Artisan Creamery
2495 E Washington Blvd
Pasadena
626.797.1405

Bulgarini's wonderful raw milk gelato discovered by the gelato detective

Bulgarini Gelato: Don't forget to ask about the unmarked flavors

It helps to be really persistent to find out what's good at Bulgarini Gelato Artigianale. First, you need to make the commitment to drive several miles north of Pasadena to the sleepy town of Altadena, where Bulgarini shares a small shopping center with Rite-Aid. "It feels like we're on vacation in another city," says my son, and indeed, it feels like we're in Palm Springs or somewhere far outside L.A.
You can order coffee or chocolate gelato right away, as my kids do, or if, like me, you're a gelato detective, you can patiently ask for tastes of three or four unmarked gelati at the rear of the case. If you do, you will be rewarded with a delicately floral white tea/jasmine tea gelato which was the perfect finish our rich Persian dinner at Heidar Baba.
Even better, though, is the raw milk lime gelato that Leo Bulgarini was serving when we were there on Friday evening. He explained that it's safe for anyone because he lightly pasteurizes the raw milk, which he gets at Whole Foods. Apparently the DIY pasteurization is enough to kill the germs, but not the flavor of the fresh milk. In Italy, there are at least half a dozen types of "plain" gelato. There's vanilla, of course, and zabiglione with eggs and marsala, and crema with eggs. But the most pure is fior di latte, the flower of milk. Bulgarini infused his raw milk fior di latte with a hint of lime zest, which brings a subtle citrusy note without overpowering the grassy flavor of the fresh milk. Chocolate orange gelato was also intense and perfectly balanced. I'm not sure how I would feel about a whole cup of the olive oil yogurt flavor -- I love salty flavors but I'm not sure it works with the tart yogurt.
Unless you're my ex-husband or Jonathan Gold, Bulgarini probably isn't very convenient. But raw milk lime gelato isn't found on just any old street corner, so it's well worth the trip.
Bulgarini Gelato Artigianale
749 E. Altadena Dr. (near Lake)
Altadena
(626) 791-6174

Twohey's Alhambra: The classics series

Twohey's bacon blue cheese burger with sweet potato fries

Twohey's Diner is the sort of place you would probably never hear of unless you're within striking distance of South Pasadena or Alhambra. Unlike Fosselman's, which draws curious ice cream eaters from all over L.A., or Pie 'n Burger, Twohey's charms are known mainly to those who went there for ice cream sundaes after their high school football games at various San Gabriel Valley schools. Twohey's underwent an unfortunate remodeling in 1977, which wiped out all the oldschool carhop charm it undoubtedly had since 1943 when it opened. Now it's a barn of a coffee shop filled with kitschy faux-antique signs and many customers who undoubtedly remember its first year in business. Twohey's is famous for the "little stinker" burgers with onions, its onion rings and homemade hot fudge sauce. My patty melt was pretty lackluster, with a tasteless overcooked patty and sweet potato fries that can't hold a candle to Gus's BBQ. But Matt liked his bacon/blue cheese burger, and Sam seemed happy with his onion ring-topped burger and apple pie. I think the trick is to order a half pound burger instead of a quarter pound one to achieve a little more juiciness. We'll probably be back to try the sundaes, the slushy limeade and the onion rings, but if I just want a simple burger, I'll probably go to the In 'n Out next door instead.

Carmela: Local ice cream now in holiday flavors

Recently I was listening to NPR when the commentator started a story, "Chances are that today you bought something made in China." I was feeling kind of smug, because in fact that was the day I bought beautiful handmade silver earrings from Sasha Bell Jewelry, a vintage Mexican silver ring at the Silver Lake Art Craft & Vintage sale and adorable designer seconds from All-Mighty. It was a very locally-made day.
Then at home, my kids and I sampled holiday ice cream flavors sent over from Carmela Ice Cream, which is made right in L.A. with seasonal, local and organic ingredients including herbs from Silver Lake Farms. Did I say really local? My daughter loved the dark chocolate cacao nib flavor, despite an earlier bad experience with overly earthy nibs at Scharfenberger. My son quickly polished off the candied pecan. I thought the cranberry orange thyme sorbet would make a perfect palate cleanser during Christmas dinner. We all liked the refreshing spiced strawberry sorbet (pictured at center). The teens found the nutmeg a bit too nutmeggy on its own, but we all agreed it would be an excellent addition to a slice of pumpkin pie. But the piece de resistance was the salted caramel -- this is the best ice cream I've had in a long time, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to lay in a large supply of it. The perfectly-balanced amount of salt cut the sweet caramel in just the right way, and I didn't even resort to my usual tinkering with pomegranate syrup and such.
Just. Delish.
Carmela is great stuff, and although they sent me this sampler, I've bought it before and will continue to -- especially the salted caramel! It's available on the website, at the Hollywood and South Pasadena Farmer's Markets, and at restaurants including Tasca, Auntie Em's and Cafe Was.

N'ice Cream is good...could pot gelato be better?

Pretty in pink: sour cherry gelato

EatingLA left the Eastside for a field trip to Venice the other day, where we happened upon N'ice Cream: Nielsen's Homemade Gelato and Sorbet on Abbot Kinney Blvd. N'ice has only been open about a month, and the Danish owners use organic milk for their gelato. The flavors weren't too crazy but the sour cherry gelato was really well-balanced and creamy, and the lemon sorbet was pleasantly tart. I prefer the Italian-style where they pack as many flavors as you like into a cup -- N'ice goes by the scoop, but it's only $1 extra for another scoop. Strangely enough, there's a Pinkberry right next door. This is the perfect set-up for my daughter, who only eats chocolate gelato, and me, who likes a Pinkberry with Oreos every now and then.
Even stranger, though, was seeing the ice cream counter at the Farmacy with my own eyes. I remember when Jenny at Grubtrotters wrote about the pot dispensary/bakery/gelato shop a while back. You don't need a medical marijuana card to get into the front part of the store, which is a combination herbal/natural medicine emporium and bakery selling enhanced items like gelato, soda pop, lollipops and the all-purpose Canna butter (great for brownies!) for $30 a tub. There's also non-enhanced gelato, but in that case, you might as well go to N'ice, which was quite nice indeed. Has anyone tried the trippy gelato?

Ruby Jewel's ice cream sandwiches will rock your world

After extolling the joys of all things Portland, I heard from Lisa, who makes lovely ice cream sandwiches for Ruby Jewel treats. But unlike Portland's famous tamarind whisky sours and bacon maple doughnuts, Ruby Jewel ice cream sandwiches are available in L.A. at several Whole Foods markets (you can also order them online). I picked up two at the Pasadena location, Lemon cookie with Honey Lavender ice cream, and Dark chocolate cookie with Fresh Mint ice cream. I love how the delicate cookie didn't overpower the ice cream like some sandwiches with giant, dense oatmeal cookies. The light cookie provided a pleasant lemony counterpoint to the creamy, subtly lavender-perfumed ice cream. Matt termed that one a "ladies flavor" and grabbed the chocolate mint variety, immediately proclaiming "This ice cream sandwich rocks my world." There's also peanut butter ice cream with double chocolate cookies and cinnamon chocolate cookie with espresso ice cream. Ruby Jewel uses locally-sourced Oregon mint, lavender, honey and milk, plus, Lisa has offered a visit to where they're made next time I'm in Portland. Yum!
PRODUCT RATING: 5 spoons
(out of a possible 5)

Carmela Ice Cream hits the news

The Carmela folks give out tastes in South Pasadena

After seeing this post on the LA Times Daily Dish about Carmela Ice Cream, I made sure to try some when I spotted their stand at the South Pasadena Farmer's Market. In fact, I considered having just ice cream for dinner, but thought better of it and took home a small cup of dense, rich cardamom ice cream which paired amazingly with the fresh strawberry shortcake I made on 4th of July. And today, the Times Business section is all over Carmela too, talking about how founder got a Jessica Mortarotti got a small business loan to start up the creamery. Carmela has some really cool flavors like strawberry buttermilk and raspberry thyme sorbet, so seek some out at the South Pasadena, Larchmont or Downtown City Hall farmer's markets, or order online.

Times talk: Pazzo downtown?

Gelato fans must check out today's comprehensive guide to gelato and ice cream in the L.A. Times food section. Notable bits: Silver Lake's Pazzo Gelato is thinking of opening another outlet in the Downtown arts district, and Pasadena's famous Bulgarini gelato, which was formerly available only in a kiosk at the Pacific Asia museum, opens a permanent gelateria this Saturday 749 E. Altadena Drive in Altadena; (626) 441-2319.

Quick bite: Buddha's Belly, Milk

A lot of people rag on Buddha's Belly, but on my first visit, I found nothing to complain about and enough to draw me back. There were parking places right out front, and the sunny patio was pleasant. Ramin recommended the ginger fried rice with beef (left), so we tried that and the Asian chopped salad. The fried rice is a huge, flavorful plate with veggies, beef pieces and a nice hint of ginger. A little spice would have been nice, but it's the kind of place where they don't want to scare the customers, and I can understand that. The chopped salad was also a massive pile of lettuce with little cubes of tofu and veggies, and if I were making it, I might have gone for less lettuce and more substance, but it was fine. Someone had also recommended I try the cod, but at $16.50, it seemed like a pricey lunch. So: West Hollywood prices and light on the spice, but friendly service and a crowd-pleasing pan-Asian menu make it a good casual choice on Beverly.
Then I stopped by Milk, the adorable new ice cream spot on Beverly at Poinsettia. Pictured at left are a chocolate mint ice cream bonbon, a coffee toffee crunch bonbon, and a powdered sugar cookie. The bonbons are just 25 cents each, so they're perfect for a little after-lunch treat. The cookies and baked goods looked nice, and the espresso was deep and rich. I really liked my taste of the jasmine gelato, and the banana dulce de leche gelato looked pretty attractive too. They also have sandwiches, salads, and will soon be serving breakfast, but I think the ice cream bars, cakes, elaborate milkshakes and such are probably the main attraction at this sweet spot.

The scoop on the Black Dahlia

If you never considered brutal murder and ice cream in the same thought, think again.
Scoops Gelato on Heliotrope is rolling out a custom flavor of gelato to coincide with the September 15 release of Brian De Palma's "The Black Dahlia," and the 1947project’s Crime Bus tour of Black Dahlia historic sites. Scoops’ gelato maker Tai Kim hasn’t yet decided on the ingredients, but he says they could include squid ink, black sesame, jasmine, basil and tomato, to represent the young girl who looked so striking and died so terribly. Some of Scoops' unusual rotating flavors include brown bread, chocolate/wasabi, dill/cheesecake, Arnold Palmer, sunflower Seed/coffee, avocado/banana, olive oil/salt and Japanese pumpkin. The Black Dahlia gelato will debut on Friday, September 15 and be available at Scoops during regular business hours on Saturday, September 16 and for the Crime Bus only on Sunday September 17. Scoops is at 712 N. Heliotrope Dr., just north of Melrose, and is open Monday-Saturday, 12pm-9pm.

Zanzabelle sweetens Silver Lake

If you were wondering about the huge plastic giraffe that appeared recently in the yard of a little cottage near the Coffee Table, the mystery has been revealed. The giraffe is Zanzabelle, the star of a 1949 French stop-motion animated film, and she is the mascot of the new dessert cafe on Rowena. Inside Zanzabelle, antique cash registers and vintage store fixtures help display old-fashioned toys and quirky candies, like the potato-shaped Idaho Spud candy bar.

Zanzabelle offers around a dozen flavors of the excellent Dr. Bob's ice cream, including the hard-to-find cappucino crunch, as well as cupcakes, cookies and brownies. That's about it for now, but it's only been open a week. Sophie pronounced the chocolate cupcake "too chocolatey," as if there could really be such a thing, but perhaps the dense, dark cupcakes were more to an adult's taste. The front yard has cafe tables and mini-Adirondack chairs for outdoor snacking, and it's open from 11 to 7 Tues.-Sat. (noon on Sundays).
Zanzabelle
2912 Rowena
(323)663-9900