Diddy Riese in Westwood

A choice of any two cookies and a generous helping of Dreyer's ice cream for $1.50?  It's a fun experience and if you don't sit really close to the hot dog condiment stand or the sticky seats or lean on the sticky counters, you'll be fine.  The cookie choices range from chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, chocolate chocolate chip, peanut butter and snickerdoodle with any variation white chocolate chips (I hear you, protesting the term, "white chocolate" because of the lack of chocolate taste), walnuts and maybe macadamia nuts.  I'd love to see other cookie choices, some with pecans or hazlenuts perhaps instead of those pesky walnuts.  Several of Dreyer's offerings are in the cases, sure to cater to most cravings.  The service is very, very brisk--undecided visitors will need to hurry.  Seriously.   It was my first visit and I had two chocolate chip cookies sandwiching butter pecan ice cream.   A couple of bites and I was very pleased and I understood why Diddy Riese has a line of alternating lengths from the door.  What else can you get something that good  for under $2?  Well, for $1 you can get three of their cookies.  I'm not sure if any single order in the place costs more than $3 (which for Westwood, has to be a miracle!)  For a buck-fifty, this is a steal and I would go back the next time I'm in the area. 

Rating: one to four spoons, four being best:
3

Glacier in Manhattan Beach

This was my third time at Glacier.  Yes, I'd been there before, without clueing you in, dear readers and with my apologies.  Here's a quick summary of the previous experiences: the first visit, my friends and I sampled the gelato and ice cream and nearly ran to order the ice creams, promising to make a second trip only for the gelato.  We were delighted at Glacier, especially after a dismal outing (to a sad establishment) earlier in the day (I'll review it for you later).  The service was helpful and enthusiastic, the boad games (Ice Cream-opoly, anyone?) and brightly colored tables were fun to see and all was well.  On the second visit, a friend and I honed in on the gelato and subsequently promised to return only for the ice cream in all future visits.  The service was dull and close to non-existent (the server was on the phone the entire time). 

So, some more friends and I met up at this adorable, previous-Baskin Robbins-looking-building, and tried again.  I didn't bother the gelato (as promised) and sampled the ice cream.  After realizing I was going to be in for a disappointment, I settled on a double scoop of chunky donkey and mint chocolate chip (I choose the first on a friends's recommendation and the latter on the hopes it would be astoundingly good).  First, let me say, "hope" is not an effective strategy and that is a lesson I learned the hard way.  Second, the chunky donkey was not special--in fact, I see why the server dead-panned and said he didn't like any of the product when I asked for his favorites.  Third, the mint chocolate chip was sufficiently minty and the chocolate chips were bland.  What happened?  I don't know, but I left Glacier feeling very puzzled and a little cheated out of great ice cream.

Rating: one to four spoons, four being best:
2

Review of Cafe Lucca

From the Cafe Lucca website regarding their gelato: "truly the best; judge for yourself" and "We believe our customers are discerning".

Well, if they want to post such a claim, then I'm up for the challenge!  I've been there and judged for myself, thank you.  Here's my take on this place.  A friend of mine treated me to gelato at Cafe Lucca in Orange.  Its at a nice location, there is very enthusiastic and helpful service and they allow you to have samples of the flavors.  Let me also add that we saw room for improvement: some of the gelato had travelled into neighboring bins (ie. small lumps of raspberry on top of the mango, etc.), the gelato selections were of differing consistencies, some were partially melted, others were frozen solid and then, more than one bin held more than one flavor, so the presentation was sloppy. My samples were of the chocolate covered banana, chocolate hazlenut, mango and straciatella.  I opted for vanilla bean and chocolate hazelnut.  First, the vanilla bean left me wanting, there were no telltale vanilla bean flecks or pale yellow tint to justify the "vanilla bean" title, it had a strange residue on the tongue and the spoon and it was too sweet (perhaps the mix wasn't blended completely).  The chocolate hazlenut was hazelnutty, but otherwise no distinctive chocolate flavor and it was too sweet also.  My friend ordered the raspberry and the toasted almond  Her assessment was that it was good, but lackluster.  Her toasted almond was disappointingly melted by the time she finished her raspberry.  Overall, we were both looking for that intense flavor that only comes with well made gelato and we didn't find it.

Rating: one to four spoons, four being best:
2

Frati Gelato Cafe

The best gelato around is at Frati in Fullerton.  Yesterday, I stopped in with a friend of mine who is a devotee of ice cream.  Up until then, she had only had something sweet and frozen that is sold under the name "gelato", but it came from a mall shop called melt and, well, because of that, she really had no idea of the unsurpassed goodness of authentic gelato.  As we walked in, I told the staff that this is her first visit and they were very pleasant and attentive with her as they are with every customer. On an earlier suggestion, my friend tried the straciatella and her whole face lit up like she had struck gold.  She then said what I've heard other friends say after trying a couple of samples, "I wish you had never taken me here--I won't be able to stay away from this place"!  I tried the lemon souffle and bosco swirl.  She was hooked on the straciatella and I finally decided on both the bosco swirl and rum hazelnut--a combination that makes me weak in the knees just thinking about it!  Straciatella has been described to me in a few ways, "sort of cookies and cream" or, "Romeo and Juliet", etc.  I think it is a creation that defies a scant two or three word description. Straciatella is vanilla gelato with chocolate bits throughout it at surprising intervals; sometimes in obediently even flecks, at others small pools and everything in between, while the entire serving is increasingly, commandingly addictive.  The bosco swirl starts off as a cream to die for with a generous addition of frutti di bosco, composed of blackberries, blueberries and raspberries stirred in--perfetto!  Then, there was the rum hazelnut--a creamy, undeniable rum romance with candied hazelnut pieces that makes me stop to collect myself.  Now, I could have just as easily had the chocolate, nutella crunch, frate, nectarine or the supreme strawberry pineapple, or, well you get the idea.  The incredible flavors are served at Frati on a rotating basis, so it is imperative to make regular visits.  Going to Frati is mandatory for me--I know you will enjoy it too!   

Rating: one to four spoons, four being best:
4

Tutto Amore Update

Even though its a shame, I'm not totally surprised by this news: Tutto Amore, a gelateria in Laguna Beach is gone.  A good friend of mine who was making a stop by the shop yesterday, was caught off guard with closed doors.  It doesn't appear that they have moved to another locale, either.  Now, I had been to Tutto Amore twice, and they did have an excellent cherimoya sorbet.  On the flip side, they offered non-traditional flavors such as maple-bacon and honey goat weed and I am only a fan of traditional flavors.  Sweet, not savory, generally speaking, is my bias.  All in all, I won't miss Tutto Amore a great deal.  The fact remains that good (let alone great) gelato and ice cream shops are very rare.