Easy Freezy

Scoops and Pazzo Gelateria make Angelenos scream for cream.
by Claire L. Evans and Lesley Bargar

Scoops

Ice cream just may be the ultimate populist treat; nowhere in this country are you far from a parlor doling out cheap sherbet or a gas station icebox filled with push-pops gathering freezer burn. However, unlike most things high in saturated fats, it retains a place apart from the maelstrom of nasty junk foods. Ice cream—perhaps due to a similarity to the more sophisticated gelato, or maybe because its tendency to melt lends it an ephemeral opulence—still feels like a luxury. A good chocolate chip cookie-dough, even if eaten with a tiny pink plastic spoon in the parking lot of a Baskin Robbins, is the Everyman’s silver spoon experience.

Tai Kim, the soft-spoken impresario of Scoops, understands the sanctity of this standard-issue extravagance. An unassuming little parlor on the edge of Koreatown, Scoops is a clean and well-lit temple to the ritual of ice cream. Kim, who runs the minimally decorated store alone, whips up over a dozen new flavors every day, often based on suggestions or ingredient donations from his customers. A dry-erase board next to the counter that reads, “Flavor to Suggest,” is regularly covered in handwritten ideas from regulars—cucumber melon sorbet, fig anise, or lavender coconut.

As fantastical as these sound, they’re nothing compared to the rotating plate of exotic creatures that come straight from Kim’s head; his richly nostalgic brown bread ice cream is a regular hit, but a creamy avocado banana gelato, Indian pistachio kulfi, or champagne and orange mimosa sorbet are just as likely to make you feel like royalty. No one need feel left out either—Scoops features at least four different vegan flavors every day, all of which are (the chocolate sunflower seed especially) just as classic and creamy as their bovine counterparts.

Kim, a self-admitted “narcissist,” insists on making all of his ice cream himself on top of running the store, which often doubles as an art gallery, movie theater, and video lending library, without the assistance of any other employees. His rare passion for the cream, it seems, borders on the pathological, but his originality and conviviality are golden; nowhere else can an Angeleno’s sweet tooth get both tips on how to make the perfect alcoholic mojito sorbet cocktail and a free sample of beet ice cream. Investing in that much frozen root vegetable may seem risky, but at $2 a cone, Scoops is a daily reminder that great luxuries don’t have to elude the little guy.

Location: 712 N Heliotrope Dr., Koreatown.
Phone: (323) 906-2649.
Vibe: Cool, smooth.
Service: Buddy, buddy.
Parking: Some street parking.
Price: $2 a cone
Recommended Scoops: Avocado banana gelato, chocolate sunflower.
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 scoops

Pazzo Gelato

Pazzo Gelato is one of those, “Why the hell didn’t I think of that?” genius business ideas that’s so obvious it’s almost passé. Except that it’s not. At all. In fact, this tiny, family owned gelateria in the heart of the Sunset Junction strip of Silver Lake has been line-out-the-door packed ever since its grand opening a month ago, selling out of many of the ever-changing flavors by late afternoon. You’d think nobody had ever tasted gelato—the Italian breed of ultra-intense ice cream (through traditional gelato contains no actual cream)—before.

And in a way, they haven’t—at least not like this

Every morning the owners pick up the freshest local organic produce from the markets and blend their own unique flavors of icy sweetness. And then they spend the rest of the day thrusting these scrumptious varietals at customers in the form of tiny brightly colored, plastic tasting spoons. Really, they’re almost too generous.

Walking past the no-frills front patio and through the glass door, it’s not necessary to glance at the “flavors of the day” on the chalkboard, or even the crayon-box of vibrant colors filling the small square metal bins. Instead, just reach out a greedy hand and catch any of the hundreds of sample spoonfuls whizzing through the air, with dollops of mango-cayenne pepper, honey and leche, cinnamon vanilla, fig, fresh banana, dark espresso, green tea-ginger, Limoncello and even chocolate martini (infused with Grey Goose). There are never dirty looks for accepting that 23rd taste; in fact, it’s easier to just keep sampling than it is to actually get someone to scoop you a full portion and pay (though I’m sure that’s an accidental phenomenon).

There’s no limit to how many flavors you can pack into the little striped plastic cups, though with the intensity of the all-natural flavors, you may want to mix with caution. They also serve all varieties of upscale coffee drinks that form the perfect complementary bitterness to the almost overwhelmingly pungent sweetness of the gelato. Prices range from $2.95 for a small, to $3.95 for a large, but with the amount of tastes you gulp down along with your own personal paid-for cup, it’s a very decent deal. LAA

Location: 3827 W. Sunset Blvd. at Hyperion, Silver Lake.
Phone: (323) 662-1480.
Vibe: Summertime Silver Lake boutique trendy without the pretension.
Service: Spoon-thrusting generosity.
Parking: Street.
Price: $2.95-$3.95.
Recommended scoops: Banana, green tea ginger.
Overall: 4 out of 5 scoops