rev:text
| - Reviewing gourmet ice cream is sorta like reviewing bacon, or an orgasm: it's always good, it's just a matter of degrees.
Churned's funky little shop in Tremont makes for a great late-night wander after your meal at Lolita on a summer night; they patiently let you try any and every one of their ice creams, which are always imaginative and can border on heavenly when they hit their mark (not all do, but creativity involves risk ).
The Carrot Cake ice cream, my new favorite ice cream of all time, will win a duel with any "real" carrot cake. You won't believe how much the two different color swirls - orange and white - capture and perfect the magic combination of moist, spiced cakiness and rich cream cheese frosting that makes carrot cake such an enticing dessert despite being named after a vegetable.
The Pad Thai ice cream, on the other hand, may turn a few heads as an exotic entry into the artisan ice cream world, but won't win any awards - you get a little peanut, a little cayenne out of it, maybe a faint hint of tamarind, but not much else (thinking about what else is in pad thai - lime, bean sprouts, shrimp, cabbage etc- that may be a good thing).
Even with an occasional oddball flavor, Churned is a no-brainer and should be at the status of local legend by now. More proof that Cleveland can hang with the best food cities, even if on a much smaller scale. Side note: I noticed that they now carry Churned in the soon-to-be-closed West Point Market in Akron, and I dare say that I enjoy the pints even more than the shop ice cream, since I can bring them home and freeze them to my desired consistency With any luck, the Whole Foods that is going into this location will continue to carry the product.
|