Ice cream dreams

Few foods inspire people to bust a rhyme. Sure, we’ve all heard the clever verse about beans, the musical fruit. And over the years, people no doubt have tried to garnish other foods with poetic praise. But nothing – not even the well-intentioned “Yum, yum, Brussels sprouts make us sing and dance about” – comes close

to competing with the all-time classic: “I scream …”

Don’t even need to finish it, do I?

Ice cream reigns as the dreamy, do-no-evil deity of summertime sweets. There’s just something inherently beautiful and innocent about frozen sweet cream.

“It’s been a part of everybody’s lives,” said Elissa Sullivan, who co-owns The Scoop, 1001 W. 25th Ave., with her husband, Patrick.

“I’ve had ice cream ever since I was a kid. It’s cold and high-fat – how can you go wrong with that?”

The Sullivans bought the former South Perry Street scoopery and relocated it to the South Hill last year, joining the small-but-distinguished ranks of the region’s coolest cottage industry: the independent neighborhood ice cream store.

With Doyle’s Ice Cream Parlor – the creamy cultural cornerstone of the West Central ’hood – closed for the 2008 season, the sweet-toothed have fewer options than usual for summer slobbering.

But they still have options. And we’re not talking Cold Stone Creamery (though that stuff’s darn tasty, too).

Here’s a rundown of some stars in the local indie cream scene:

The Scoop

1001 W. 25th Ave., (509) 535-7171

The Brain Freeze Creamery just east of downtown provides The Scoop with its boutique treats, many of which sound like edible outtakes from Jack Prelutsky’s poem, “Bleezer’s Ice Cream Store.”

Sure, you won’t find “Peach Pimento Pizza Plum” among The Scoop’s freezy flavors, but a five mini-scoop sampler on a recent trip starred these inventive creams: Frosted Circus Animal Cookies in Cake Batter, Horchata, Mexican Chocolate with Almonds, Molasses Cookie and, to top it off, Cardamom.

Oh, and the Pink Bubble Gum ice cream thankfully doesn’t contain pieces of gum. Whoever decided to start putting actual gum in bubble gum ice cream should be smacked.

Cheney Delights

513 First St., (509) 235-8943

“Oh my gosh, are we ever.”

That was Fred Pollard’s reply when I asked him if business is still booming in this college-town treatery.

Earlier this year, Pollard and Co. altered the shop’s ice cream to what he says were rave reviews.

“We were able to find with our ice cream a 100-year-old recipe,” Pollard said. “It was close to what we were doing, but better.”

Of course, 32 to 36 flavors of icy sweetness aren’t the only delights at this Cheney chow-house.

“Now it’s a toss-up between our house-made barbecue and our ice cream, in terms of what’s popular,” Pollard said.

Mary Lou’s Milk Bottle

802 W. Garland Ave., (509) 325-1772

With area-wide distribution at restaurants and coffee shops, Mary Lou’s may be the most recognizable name in regional cream.

And although the actual creamery operates out of a barn-esque building at 821 N. Evergreen Road in Spokane Valley, there’s something amazing about copping a cone at a building shaped like an old-fashioned milk bottle.

Mary Lou’s sells 18 of the creamery’s 35-or-so flavors in its Milk Bottle storefront in the burgeoning Garland District. Get ’em to make you a milkshake and order a burger with fries while you’re at it. This must have been what 1950s America tasted like.

Extra helpings

World traveler and 7  movie critic Dan Webster insisted a line be inserted into this story:

“Nobody makes real gelato in the United States. They say they do, but it’s just ice cream.”

It’s hard to argue with someone who makes an annual trek to Italy, but if Inland Northwesterners could find real gelato close to home, it would probably be from Ferrante’s Italian Café and Shoppe (4516 S. Regal St., 509-443-6304) or Gelato Joe’s.(12408 N. Division St., 509-465-3155).

Now in its third summer, Joe’s specializes in the iced Italian treat, offering 30 flavors along with panini and other lunch offerings.

Still sitting pretty atop the tasty tower of pizza, Ferrante’s sells gelato by the cup or pint to its customers, who always seem to save room for dessert after a drool-worthy thin-crust pizza.