I would like some ice cream, please

[Amy Eber]

Make your own ice cream. Easy, easy and cheap. I am teaching a FREE, one hour technique class at the Upper Montclair Williams-Sonoma store on Sunday, June 24th. You do need to call the store and sign up if you and your kids want to attend. 973-783-1799. We will be using the very inexpensive Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker (see link below) and showing attendees how to make custard-based ice cream as well as the quick Philadelphia method that only take 3 minutes to put together before adding to the machine. I love my machine and everyone can personalize their own bowl.

If you don't feel like making your own, kids enjoy Cold Stone on Bellevue Avenue just around the corner from the store. I have never been there but the place is often packed with families. Customers pick their ice cream flavor and stir-ins.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sk...am&cm%5Fsrc=SCH

[Curlz]

PLEASE. Don't go to Cold Stone if you can help it. I don't even care if the ice cream is good or not...all CS seems to do is push out the local ice cream stores wherever they go! I know the kids like it, but they can enjoy Holsten's, Applegate Farms, or any of the other individually owned places just as much--without the sanitized store experience.

Rant over.

Your class sounds great, Amy! I'm going to pass that info along to friends who own an ice cream maker but have never used it.

[jon777]

PLEASE.  Don't go to Cold Stone if you can help it.  I don't even care if the ice cream is good or not...all CS seems to do is push out the local ice cream stores wherever they go! 

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That's exactly what happened in Hoboken. We had 2 local stores -- one that was good (although not great) but that had been around forever, and another new one that was outstanding. Ben & Jerry's and Coldstone drove them both out of business. With rents what they are on Washington St, the local places can't handle it. A shame as Jordan's (one of the places now out of business), had the best ice cream of any of them. Now we have B&J, Coldstone and Rita's Water Ice within a 5 block radius. Next comes the Gap and Banana Republic.

[mzrb]

not to mention, imho, that the flavor of coldstone ice cream is just plain odd.

[Rebecca263]

There is an Applegate Farm ice cream place near us in Freehold. We tried it the last time I was at Centra State. I'm sorry to report, it was terrible. The soft serve was incredibly chemical, but the hard serve was so disappointing that we were floored by the poor quality! I don't like my ice cream very rich, but this stuff was almost like gummy ice milk. The sweetness was the main flavor profile, other than a chemical offtaste, in both the vanilla and the cookies'n'cream that daughter HAD to try. We saw a good number of people not finishing their orders, so it's probably a great place to go if you are on a diet. Which, I SHOULD be!

[jpr54_]

Lyndhurst Bakery on Ridge Rd. doesn't sell ice cream but their ices are the best in the area.

[bobferdon]

I think I can get a better quality ice cream from Breyer's, to be honest....

Then go to the supermarket. You like commercial ice cream...

[Rhys Ord]

After reading this thread, my wife and I tried Denville Dairy for the first time. Outstanding! I chose Black Forest chocolate in a waffle cone. Nice ride out Route 46, and the place was packed with families on a Friday evening.

We also tried Rita's in Livingston a few days ago. So-so.

Our favorite place in the state, however, remains Hoffman's in Point Pleasant.

Rhys

[Wiener]

The absolute best ice cream parlor in the Montclair is Holsten's on Broad St. in Bloomfield.  There is just no other place in the area that is remotely on the same level.  What they lack in variety of flavors, they more than make up for in the quality of their homemade product.

Holsten's is on Broad St. in Montclair, just off the south west corner of Broad St. and Watchung Ave.

I can no longer recommend Applegate Farms on Grove St. as the quality of their product has diminished in recent years.  I have no doubt this is due to the mass production of their product for distribution in grocery stores.

Edit:  Having gone back and reread your original post, I can't believe you would knock Holsten's.  To say that you could get better ice cream from Breyer's is an insult.  You're not really looking for quality ice cream, but rather a place to take your kids.

For you, I'd recommend Magic Fountain or Carvel.

Perhaps you'd like to take a ride over to Essex Green in West Orange and hit up Cold Stone Creamery.

Not since Grunnings went out of business long ago has there been a top quality ice cream parlor in the area, but Holsten's comes the closest to any in the area that I've tried.

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[Wiener]

Holstens is one of the best in the Montclair area but is dirty most of the time. Guess that goes with the turf. Never got sick from it but the place is filthy. Ever since the Sopranos they have added better lighting and cleaned the floor on occasion. Great ice cream, though.

[hitmanoo]

Holstens  is one of the best  in the Montclair area  but is dirty most of the time.  Guess that goes with the turf.  Never got sick from it but the place is filthy.  Ever since the Sopranos they have added better lighting and cleaned the floor on occasion.  Great ice cream,  though.

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I went in today for lunch. They are so busy that they are completely overwhelmed. That Soprano's episode was great for their business, but they don't seem completely up to the challenge.

They seem disorganized and understaffed. They need a couple more employees:

1. A dedicated busboy to tidy up.

2. A person dedicated to the confectionary.

They have kids working the counter, and the confectionary and busing tables all at once and they are running aimlessly about.

They've become victims of their own success!

[Curlz]

I'll say up front that I'm not an ice cream expert, but when it comes to food, I generally know good stuff ...

Denville Dairy is partially my favorite because I grew up going there (when it was a tiny, free-standing, walk-up only shop) with our (big) dog riding on the boot of the convertible. And partially because I just love their ice cream! It's all handmade on the premises; the same family has owned the place for at least 25-30 years (just saw the website--it's 40) that I've been going, and while they have a ton of flavors, they've stuck to essentially the same ones. You won't find basil/saffron gelato here, but then again, you don't always want that ('tho I actually DO love both)!

I tend to get hard ice cream (black raspberry is a ripple through vanilla; coffee almond fudge is also a major favorite), but their soft serve is also excellent. Their cakes are great! The crunchies in their cakes are awesome. Their hot fudge is as well. Portions are huge, so you should definitely take note of what people order and then see what they look like. Dogs are welcome (outside) and the place is always packed in the evenings, but I will say that they know how to move it along. Go. Take a number (inside) and stand around while neighbors and kids catch up. Once you get your ice cream, sit on a bench out front, or walk around and look in the windows of the (mostly) mom 'n pop stores in Denville. It's very small-town in a lot of ways. Maybe that's what I like about it, too...but the ice cream is THE reason to go.

34A Broadway

Denville NJ

973-627-4214

Sun-Thurs 11am-9:30pm

Fri-Sat 11am-10pm

DD's very basic website

Okay, I've officially blown my own mind. Was in Denville tonight with some OLD friends for a Denville Dairy fix. And what did I have? SAFFRON PISTACHIO ice cream. At Denville Dairy. Couldn't have shocked me more when I saw it in the case, and the comment to my friend was "WOW--that's very 'gourmet' for Denville Dairy! But I'm thrilled to see it." A quick taste confirmed my choice for the evening...creamy, almost lemony, refreshing, and not overly sweet. Had to bump up the ice cream thread to mention it and I was really floored to see this old post of mine...so I've been proven wrong! And I'm quite happy about it.

[Cook456]

Curlz,

I definitely need to get over there.

Have you made a trip to Princeton to The Bent Spoon, yet?