(Above photo courtesy of Shing Wang.)
The ice cream mania at Miami Dish continues! Here are some of the ways I plan to indulge in the coming weeks.
Shing Wang Vegetarian, Icee and Tea House
Ok, so it’s not specifically ice cream but it is cool and refreshing. I was so excited to learn about this place; it is my next stop! The name alone arouses curiosity. So do intriguing offerings like snow cones or “kakigori” in flavors like honeydew, banana and lychee! Fresh fruit + pudding + red bean + jelly + dried plum = something I have to try! Icee you there!
Where: 237 NE 167 Street, North Miami Beach
When: Daily, 11:30 am to 9:30 pm
Redland Summer Fruit Festival
This weekend event at Fruit and Spice Park is sure to be stultifyingly hot, but I will be armed with my ice cream from Gaby’s Farm. The ladies from Gaby’s Farm are omnipresent at Fruit and Spice events, just as they are in the creation of their tropical fruit ice creams and sorbets, from growing the fruit on their land to harvesting it to making and selling the treats. Some of my favorite flavors are canistel, dragonfruit (pink with black spots!), black sapote, and pinacate (a blend of pineapple and avocado).
This festival will showcase local agriculture and tropical fruit plants. There will be fifty other plant, food, and craft vendors, including Schnebly’s Winery. I’ve never been disappointed after a trip to one of the Fruit and Spice festivals. There will also be tropical fruit samplings, tropical fruit cooking demonstrations, a lychee and longan workshop, a “Buzz about Bees” workshop with a local beekeeper, live blues by the Strictly Blues Band, a watermelon-eating contest, and horseshoe and water-balloon tossing. While you are there, explore the grounds and see the international fruit and spice plants; most are labeled. They also have a lovely water lily garden.
Where: Fruit and Spice Park, 24801 SW 187 Avenue, Homestead
When: Rain or shine, Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22, 10 am to 5 pm
How much: $6 per adult, children under 12 are free
Sausage tree at Fruit and Spice Park.
6th Annual Ice Cream Festival at Rosa Mexicano
This promises to be an exciting culinary experience for the dedicated ice cream fanatic. In more pedestrian terms, IHACB. (Think Top Chef.) As part of their “Flavors of Mexico” series, Rosa Mexicano is featuring a special summer menu of ice cream flavors, both savory and sweet. Your whole meal can revolve around the chilled and the frozen.
Start off with a cocktail of sorts. Beer + ice cream is the latest food “trendlet,” as New York magazine calls them, and Rosa Mexicano is jumping on with their Michelada Dulce. And what more perfect summer combination is there than beer and ice cream? This sweet version is made with chia seed and lemon ice cream, lime juice, and beer.
Next, enjoy some of the savory sorbet offerings. There is a sopa de pepino con camarones, which is a chilled cucumber soup with shrimp, cilantro, pickled jalapenos, and red beet sorbet. If tomato-habanero sorbet if more to your liking, you should order the tuna tartare, which is also topped with marinated radishes, jicama and cucumber.
For dessert, tickle your palate with ice creams flavors such as aguacate con mantequilla (salted butter avocado), chocolate oaxaqueno (Oaxacan chocolate with rum raisins and almonds), and tascalate (cacao, achiote, piloncillo, and corn). Those with more conservative palates can enjoy passionfruit, mango and rum, or plain ol’ vainilla.
Where: Rosa Mexicano, Mary Brickell Village, 900 South Miami Avenue
When: Lunch and dinner June 25th through July 20th
Patron Lime Sorbet Palate Cleanser
OK, I’m not going to send you all the way to the border of the Everglades in West Kendall just for some sorbet. Fortunately, all of the other offerings at Chef Adrienne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Wine Bar make it a worthwhile trip. If you must eat something besides sorbet, some of my favorites are the roasted corn soup, the wild salmon tartare, and the osso bucco. The palate cleanser is the icing on the cake; it’s made with Patron tequila and homemade kaffir lime sorbet. Chef Adrianne offers some other killer desserts, including a strawberry fields sundae (cheesecake, graham cracker crust, macerated strawberries and champagne) served in a bowl as big as my head.
Where: 11510 SW 147th Avenue, West Kendall
When: Sunday-Thursday, 11 am to 2:30 pm and 5 pm to 10 pm
Friday-Saturday, 5pm to 11pm
Extreme Ice Cream Demonstration
This is a dangerous place, to be sure, and there will probably be some heavy product pushing: “Don’t even think about trying this without the deluxe ice-cream-o-matic…” However, just practice some self-control and this demonstration will probably offer some useful tips for the novice ice cream maker. Hopefully the “extreme” in the title means that Williams-Sonoma will teach you how to make some unusual yet delicious combinations. Or maybe they just like to rhyme.
Where: Your local Williams-Sonoma
When: Sunday, June 29th
For an ice cream lover like me, I can say that this is a very a very nice blog. I’m so happy about the pictures. What a nice way to eat ice cream! Thanks for sharing these details.