(Photos: Daniel Maurer)
It’s officially ice cream sandwich season, meaning everything from the donut ice cream sandwich at Peter Pan to the babka ice cream sandwich at Russ & Daughters. And now there’s a new one in the mix: Turin-born Italian gelato brand Gelarto has opened a shop on the corner of Avenue A and East 9th, and they’re serving up ice cream sandwiches made with brioche buns.
As you can see from the photo above, these are absolute gut bombs, so proceed with caution and do not make matters worse by opting for whipped cream and chocolate sauce. The gelato (sorry, gelARTo) shop also specializes in housemade waffles topped with gelato, presumably to the chagrin of another newcomer to the block that also specializes in waffles and ice cream, Eggloo. Oh, and they serve gelato sushi:
Gelarto replaces an East Village longtimer, Cafe Pick Me Up, at 145 Avenue A, and it has done its best to gussy up the divey coffee shop’s former home with Vespa-inspired stools:
Plus a loveseat made from what looks to be the back of a Fiat:
Here’s the menu. As you can see, you can get a “frozen coffee” float, in case the soft-serve one at Cafe Zayia ain’t cutting it.
