Southern Breeze 2007 Summer Issue - (Page 62) food DISH WE’LL ALL SCREAM FOR THE SWEET TREATS AT THESE ICE CREAM PARLORS! Cream of the Crop lee’s diner Hammond, Louisiana 985-542-4204 gelato fever T www.sangelatocafe.com, 850-243-7835, San Gelato’s at the Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Florida. (Open March 1 – Oct. 31) 62 s o u t h e r n b re e z e . c o m IMAGE BY KARIM SHAMSI-BASHA en years ago, Italian business partners Simona Faroni and Guido Tremolini brought an avant-garde style of ice cream to the States. The new “species” was gelato, which is about 60 percent sugar-water and natural stabilizer and the rest fresh, ripe fruit and milk. It is authentic Italian ice cream and is served up by the scoopful at San Gelato Café’s four northwest Florida shops. Sorbet, a no-fat alternative, is a form of gelato that contains no milk, so even the lactose intolerant among us can dig in! Toni Stokes, a San Gelato general manager, said the stores in Destin and Okaloosa Island are the most exotic of the four locations—the other two are in Fort Walton Beach and Mary Esther. The cafés rotate 40 flavors, all of which should be sampled, though maybe not in one day. The desserts are “built high” and “made beautiful.” One of the features of the Okaloosa Island café is its boardwalk to a tiki bar, where the desserts are offered. The menu is also reflective of the beach environment: hot dogs and other snacks. Instead of satisfying the normal Starbucks desire, San Gelato Café markets several brands of authentic, Italian coffee. “A lot of our European customers appreciate that,” Toni says. Even the equipment needed to make gelato had to be imported from Italy, which the U.S. Agriculture Department initially would not approve because there was no code for such equipment.—RYAN BURR Escape the mind-melting heat and belly up to Lee’s Diner for a taste of Americana when milk shakes were king. Get lost in a double scoop cone, dive into a mile-high sundae, or dream away the day nibbling on a boat-sized banana split. Classic flavors join pineapple in a shivering menu of malts, shakes, floats, frosties, scoop or soft serve cones, sundaes (brownie, hot fudge, hot caramel), and banana splits. Bring the baseball team or neighborhood kids and chill inside the 50s-style diner with checkerboard flooring, red vinyl chairs, and a chrome-studded ice cream bar. Owners Tracy, Pat, and Troy Tallo have retooled the 40-yearold building into a cool hangout for local folk and a hot spot for movie companies. Located in the historic cityscapes of Hammond, three blocks from the railroad tracks, shake things up a bit sipping on a long tall frosty jiving with the locals getting the latest scoop.—DEBORAH BURST ice cream corner Gulfport, Mississippi, 228-328-2811 Ice Cream Corner serves what owners John and Janelle Kunellis promise are the biggest scoops for the price in Mississippi, but it’s the quality of what’s in the cone—or in the shake, split, or malt—that sets Ice Cream Corner apart. Ice Cream Corner boasts 49 flavors, including hard-to-find favorites like black walnut, rum raisin, spumoni, and old-fashioned lemon sherbet. Milk shake syrups and highgrade malts are purchased from a couple in New Orleans who have been in the syrup and malt-making business for more than 50 years. The décor in the 50-seat parlor is also a treat. The walls are adorned with colorful murals starring Mickey Mouse, Curious George, and the Cat in the Hat hand-painted by 82-year-old Janice Bowe, Janelle’s mother. Indulge in a cotton candy milk shake or a mountainous scoop of maple nut, pull up a chair near Mickey, and rediscover the pure joy of ice cream.—MARLO KIRKPATRICK http://southernbreeze.com
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