Though it’s no where near summer yet, thanks to wacky Los Angeles weather you can enjoy your frosty desserts pretty much any of day of the week.  In my list of favorites, I have not added any frozen yogurt and that is deliberate.  Fellow offender, Roger Fan became an early adopter and hardcore pusher of that drug called ‘Pink Berry’ and I joined him in those early days of mile long lines at the West Hollywood crack den – I mean, branch.  I OD’ed but joined yogurt rehab and now have little interest in going back to anything that has that tart, ambiguously artificial taste of mass market frozen yogurt.  Here’s my 12-step recovery program, but it’s in only 7 -

*I haven’t added Taiwanese or Hawaiian ice to the list as I feel there is little variation amongst those out there – but if you disagree, please chime in.

Step 1: Pazzo Gelato (Silverlake): Their gelato and sorbetto are often inspired by seasonal varieties of fruit from the Farmer’s market, fine nuts, chocolate and liqueurs.  Their fruit flavored sorbetto is rich and intense – blood orange, grape, pear, and white peach have been my go-to favorites.  I’m often not a big fan of sorbetto as I find it cloyingly sweet and ‘fake’ tasting or a pale imitation of the real thing.  But Pazzo Gelato’s fruit creations are like brilliant impressionist paintings that dapple your tastebuds with the essence of the fruit and not much else, to get in the way.  Their other nut and liqueur (usually a nut-based liqueur) flavors are also equally pure and intense.  The gelato is full of flavor, with a dense creamy texture.  My favorites are the fig and almond which is wonderfully subtle and, the orange chocolate which is smooth and rich without being overly sweet.  I’ll usually do a gelato/sorbetto combination to get the yin and yang balance of contrasting textures – ice vs. cream and, flavor -  tart vs. sweet.  The shop in Sunset Junction is the best of hipster coolness (as opposed to hipster douchiness) in that the gelatoticians behind the counter are really relaxed and offer on-point taste suggestions despite the crush of customers rushing in sample their array of flavors.  But somehow no matter how aggressive the customers may be to get their gelato fix, the promise of a happy tastebuds and, the pleasant and efficient service manages to keep everyone in good spirits.

Step 2: Al Gelato (Robertson/Beverly Hills): I love this place for their easy vibe, great service, and comforting homemade pasta dishes.  To finish your dinner, I’d avoid the massive tortes and cakes that rival the architectural heft of Cheesecake Factory (which I consider sacrilege that passes for a dining establishment) and go for their old school, creamy gelato.  They have classic flavors as hazelnut, chocolate, strawberry but once in awhile will have something a bit more unusual like creme brulee, tiramisu, or forest berry.  Their flavors are less intense than Pazzo (my preference), but the gelato has a wonderfully rich and creamy texture that is divine.  To create more flavor complexity to my gelato experience, I will combine flavors and create my version of the Neopolitan by picking forest berry, creme brulee, and chocolate hazelnut.

Step 3: Scoops (Koreatown/Hollywood):  Anyone who adds grapenuts to ice cream is genius.  As a kid, I loved the texture of grape nuts but found the slightly stale sourdough bread flavor a bit off-putting.  Scoops has resuscitated a childhood pariah and turned it into a grown-up dessert by creating their ‘Brown Bread’ flavor which is grapenuts caramelized in sugar and blended with vanilla icecream.  As a result, you get the crunchy texture of grape nuts and a complex caramel flavor that juxtaposes well with the creamy vanilla.  Scoops is known for its surprising and inventive flavor combinations that range from earl grey tea to Guinness chocolate to strawberry basil.  Not all their flavors go down perfectly and can seem more novel than tasty, so always test them out first before committing.  They also sell out quickly of popular flavors, so you want to make sure you hit them up well before they close (Mon-Sat. 12:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., Sun. 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.).  For vegans and those who are lactose intolerant, they seem to have a good non-dairy selection as well, but I can’t say I’ve test driven those flavors.

Step 4: Fosselman’s (Alhambra):  Since 1919, the Fosselman family have been creating ice cream the old-fashioned way with 16% butterfat.  The store in Alhambra has been there since 1941 and is the perfect place to enjoy your ice cream classics – fudge sundae with nuts, banana split, etc.  I came here many months ago and the sundaes – big mountains of creamy ice-cream capped with generous servings of fudge and nuts managed to eclipse any grown-up longings for anything subtle or complex in my dessert.  Growing up in the Bay Area, I had Swensens in San Francisco; but now living in Los Angeles, I have Fosselmans to transport me back to childhood when bad days could be alleviated with a trip to the ice cream parlor.

Step 5: Mashti Malone’s (La Brea/Hollywood): Though this ice cream shop has the classic, old school flavors – rocky road, butter brickle, bubble gum, I have only tried the Persian ice cream which includes flavors as rosewater saffron with pistachios, orange blossom with pistachios, and ginger rosewater.  The Persian ice cream is subtle and aromatic and is often enjoyed with a side of their sour cherry faloudeh which is basically shaved ice, with some crunchy noodles  (bean thread-like noodles that have been cooked halfway – unusual but interesting texture) doused with sour cherry syrup. The combination of tart and sweet, cream and ice, and smooth and crunchy oddly all work together and if you are one who gets bored of pushing through a single flavor of ice cream, this concoction will keep your taste buds endlessly intrigued.

Step 6: Milk (Beverly Blvd/West Hollywood):  If your childhood ice cream truck favorites – the Drum Stick, the Eskimo Pie, the ice cream sandwich – were transformed by a Michelin chef, MILK would be your destination of choice.  The banana dulce de leche ice cream is light yet creamy and has the burnt caramel touch of dulce de leche but without being cloyingly sweet.  For optimal childhood flashback experience, this flavor is best encased between two cookies as an ice cream sandwich or enrobed in chocolate or butterscotch as an ice cream bar.  Just don’t drop it on the pavement on your way out or childhood nightmares may ensue.

Step 7: Paletas La Michoacana (Downtown/Los Angeles): Paletas – these are not the artificial, neon colored pops of our childhood but frozen treats on a stick that comprise of densely packed fresh fruit and other additions, from cookies to milk to chocolate chips.  Ever since I had paletas in Mexico, I was craving paletas in Los Angeles.  Low and behold on a random stroll through downtown Los Angeles, I stumbled into this paletas franchise that was interesting enough, run by a Korean guy.  I tried their strawberries and milk paletas which did not disappoint – big chunks of strawberries barely held together by slushy, frozen milk.  With the temperature dropping, I had to eat the whole thing in a minute before it collapsed onto the pavement but more than likely, I would have inhaled it in one sitting regardless.

Other places of interest or disappointment:

Helados Pops(Vermont/Hollywood) and Mateo’s Ice Cream & Fruit Bars (Sepulveda/Culver City) :  I love the Mexican icecream and paletas, so these are stops for the next sugar fix.

Di Dios (Montana/Santa Monica):  Ever since I had cherry Italian ice in New York – the kind that had the black cherries and syrup mixed in with the granular ice, I have always been on the hunt for something to replicate the experience in Los Angeles.  I hoped Di Dios was the place and although their blood orange was refreshing and light, the other flavors lacked depth, had a syrupy artificial finish and didn’t have the granular ice texture and bits of fresh fruit that I associate with Italian ice.

Any favorites to contribute to the list – especially for good Italian Ice?