All smiles and Fresh Mint

I'm sure you are already wondering why Jeff is always the one in the picture, glowing, with some sort of ice cream product in his hands.....me too. I guess he is particularly photogenic in just this scenario. Could he look any happier?!

So the ice cream feature du jour is from Sketch Ice Cream in Berkeley. We feel fortunate that this place exists and that we stumbled across it one fateful day last winter. Eric and Ruthie, the owners of Sketch are literally super cool and every decision they have made for their shop is just right. The design, from the interior to the packaging is simple and perfect. To get a glimpse of what we mean, just check out their website and blog...and if you are in the area, you must make your way over.  They are serving up some of the best ice cream in the area...often with a side of Eric's dead pan humor...which we just love!

The Ice Cream: Sketch ice cream is Soft serve. That is a big part of what makes sketch so unique. They usually have about 6 flavors rolling each day, including at least 2 very seasonal and/or inventive picks. These are the ones we find ourselves wavering between. Some of the best we have put in our personal Sketch hall of fame, including--rose geranium, burnt caramel, cherry blossom, cocoa nib, cardamon, banana.......I could write a little story about each one of these. The banana we have not stopped thinking about since we had it 6 months ago. It was almost tart, which you would not guess for a banana ice cream. We don't know how they do it. Raw talent is the only explanation.

So in the picture Jeff is holding a house made waffle cone (you smell them being made as you walk up to the door) with fresh mint ice cream. There was no debate that day. You can't keep us away from anything titled fresh mint. The beauty of this one is the flavor of freshly torn mint leaves, as opposed to mint extract. It is a real star! 

Also available at Sketch:  Granite, frozen yogurt, fudgesicles that are almost black in color, dairy free and so chocolatey they redefine your idea of chocolate. They have fun toppings for your frozen concoctions and they make some amazing confections like salted chocolate covered toffee....all in this sweet little shop. You get the idea, pure goodness, an example of mastery!

Nothing Satisfies quite like an Ice Cream Cone.

I feel like we shouldn't even mention the Bi Rite Creamery in the Dolores Park neighborhood because judging by the length of the line around the block it is possible that everyone on the planet (or maybe the Bay Area) already knows.  They must know about the artisan small batch charm and the local and organic focus.  I'm sure they know about the swoon inducing array of fabulous flavors.  Our favorites include mint chip, ritual roasters coffee toffee, salted caramel, and something we can't remember exactly but had provocative hints in the title like "malted, cookie bits, vanilla...."  You probably get the idea!

This place is a must see, taste and smell.  It is gang busters on the weekends and in the evenings, so if you can sneak away from the desk or maybe call in sick, weekdays are a great time to visit.  If you are like us the decision can be somewhat torturous, but in a good way.  Not like choosing between having your teeth cleaned or doing your taxes, more like choosing which slice of heaven you want to experience today.  Hint:  a wicked good place to start--coffee toffee on top of mexican chocolate in a cone.

If you can pull yourself away from the ice cream, not as easy as you might think, the fresh fruit popsicles are to die for.  They always have 1 or 2 flavors showcasing the week's hot ticket at the farmer's markets.  Last week there were 2:  pluot and melon.  We have also seen concord grape recently.  If you go there, let us know!