DINING

Ice Cream Food Crawl: These fancy ice cream flavors are kid-approved

Donatella Senatore, 6, of Hasbrouk Heights, Justin Montero, 8, Towaco, Cameron Weidhorn, 8, Fair Lawn, Ariana Muhammad, 7, Orange and Esther Davidowitz of NorthJersey.com, taste ice cream flavors at Ice Cream on Grand in Englewood, NJ.

According to the dictionary, an expert is “a person who knows a lot about a particular subject.” Who knows more about ice cream than kids? Not the making of it — we’ll leave that to certain talented grown-ups — but its lusciousness, its creaminess, its downright deliciousness?

Know any kid who would turn down a cone of the stuff? What about a child who can’t be bribed with a scoop of the frozen treat? Neither do we. Which is why when we decided to go on an Ice Cream Food Crawl, we invited four of North Jersey’s first-rate ice cream experts — kids ages 6 to 8. Their irreproachable creds: They relish the stuff, devour it any time it’s offered (which, they unanimously agree, is never enough), and they're brutally honest. 

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But here’s the thing: this being North Jersey — where sophisticated taste buds and fine-tuned palates reside — we asked our experts to go beyond the traditional vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors and try more daring, more out-of-the-box flavors. Call it a Young Gourmets' Ice Cream Food Crawl. So they licked and spooned their way through scoops of blueberry basil, burnt brown sugar, toasted Amaretto brittle and salted caramel truffle and even charcoal, among other non-conventional ice cream flavors. And, okay, cotton candy, cookie dough and strawberry ice cream, too.

They may be foodies but they're still kids.

The following are dispatches from our field trip.

Meet our experts

Our ice cream experts:  Justin Montero, 8, of Towaco;  Ariana Muhammad, 7, Orange; Donatella Senatore, 6, Hasbrouk Heights;  Cameron Weidhorn, 8, Fair Lawn

From left to right are Justin Montero, 8, of Towaco; Ariana Muhammad, 7, Orange; Donatella Senatore, 6, Hasbrouck Heights; Cameron Weidhorn, 8, Fair Lawn.

Ice Cream on Grand, Englewood

Just as many grown-ups as kids stop by this charming neighborhood spot, according to its owner Sayed Rizvi, who in 1998 turned a four-decades-old Carvel shop into this independent ice cream store. They come for the homemade kosher ice cream offered in a variety of flavors — from passion fruit to blood orange to green tea to... Cookie Monster, a fake-as-could be blue ice cream imbued with a slew of cookie bits. Credit (perhaps...blame?) the use of food dye on kids.

Ice Cream on Grand in Englewood.

At first Rizvi used natural blueberries but "every kid complained," said his wife, Victoria. It wasn't the right Cookie Monster blue. "It cost us four times as much to use blueberries, but the kids didn't like the blueberry's blue color." 

Kids know what they like — and don't like. Would they like two decidedly more refined ice cream flavors: charcoal (a neutral ice cream infused with activated-charcoal powder made from organic coconut husks) and yuzu (neutral ice cream blended with the Japanese citrus fruit purée)?

Cookie monster flavor at Ice Cream on Grand in Englewood.

You bet, especially charcoal. "It tastes like chocolate," said Donatella, who along with her comrades had no trouble joining the clean-cup-club. "I could eat it forever." So could fellow expert Justin. "It's hard to resist another scoop." (For the record: I loved it, too, for its creamy chocolate-y taste and slight refreshing hint of coconut.) 

What about the yuzu? Justin was no fan: "I don't like the texture." But the rest of our panel gladly devoured it. "It tastes like lemon," Ariana said, "and I like lemon." 

As for that faux-blue Cooke Monster? Don't tell the kids, but I sampled it. It's awesome. 

Single scoop costs $4.70. Toppings from $0.60 to $1.25.

Go: 523 Grand Ave., Englewood; 201-569-5346, icecreamongrand.com.

Marc's Cheesecake, Glen Rock

Ice cream expert Ariana at Marc's Cheesecake trying out three different flavors

This small shop (only one bistro table with two chairs inside, though there are tables outside) may be known for its cheesecakes, but its ice cream — and more recently cookie dough — deserve attention too.

Owner Marc Silverberg makes some wacky — and delicious — cheesecakes such as chocolate cherry chunk and peanut butter banana mash and some equally scrumptious, unconventional cookie dough such as cinnamon bunz and Nutella latte, so any wonder that he'd make some oddball ice creams too? Recent offerings included Mu Shu ice cream made with Chinese five spice and plum sauce; red velvet cake made with pulverized home-baked red velvet cake as well as cake bits; and pretzel logic, salted caramel with small pieces of salted caramel pretzels and some chocolate.

A bowl of blueberry basil ice cream at Marc's Cheesecake.

Enter blueberry basil, burnt brown sugar and honey rosemary, the flavors our young panel sampled. While not a hit with Ariana ("I like ice cream. I don't like this kind of ice cream") or Donatella ("None of them taste good"), the boys were more enthusiastic. Justin likened the taste of the burnt sugar to 'smores, a favorite of most every kid, and Cameron fell in love with the blueberry basil. Me? Call me a pushover, but I found them all delicious, especially the honey rosemary which had a wonderfully subtle herbaceous taste and a heady creamy sweetness.   

Scoop: $3.50. Toppings: $.79 to $1.

Go: 251 Rock Road, Glen Rock; 201-857-0880, marcscheesecake.com.

Ice Cream by Mike, Ridgewood

Ice Cream expert Ariana Muhammad, 7, of Orange is undecided which flavor to pick at Ice Cream by Mike in Ridgewood, NJ.

If there's such a thing as ice cream heaven, Ice Cream by Mike might just be it. I can give you "adult" reasons for why its frozen confections are divine: owner Mike Elias uses high-end gourmet ingredients including French Valrhona chocolate, Tahitian vanilla bean, French chestnut purée and real (not canned or frozen) fruit; he actually makes his own ice cream base and he uses real top-shelf liquor when necessary not only for his adults-only ice creams. (Moms and Dads, you must try the absurdly wonderful bourbon-cherry soaked drunken cherry chocolate made with Maker's Mark bourbon.)

Even his kid-friendly ice-creams laced with a bit of alcohol, and not just extracts (for example: Myers rum for rum and raisin and Disaronno Amaretto for toasted amaretto brittle). "We crack the eggs, pour the milk, add the sugar here ourselves," said his daughter Dylan, who manages the shop. But our experts couldn't care less about the provenance of the vanilla beans or the original state of the fruits used.

They just care about taste. And Ice Cream by Mike's offerings taste, like, really, really awesome. 

"I love the basil," Cameron declared, which manager Dylan Elias said "tastes like a cold pesto."

"I love the strawberry," Ariana asserted, adding: "It tastes like strawberries." Thumbs up too for the toasted Amaretto brittle (the shop's bestseller and another must-get), mint chocolate chip (made with fresh mint leaves and Valrhona chocolate pearls), mudslide (vanilla ice cream laced with Bailey's Irish Cream and Kahlua) and chocolate chocolate chip (a chocolate lovers' dream-come-true).   

Hmmm, which ice cream should we get at Ice Cream by Mike in Ridgewood?

Classic scoop costs $3.75; artisan $4.75. Toppings $.50; $2 for homemade hot fudge. 

Go: 305 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood; 201-343-4514, icecreambymike.com.

Ice Cream Food Crawl:Sweet ice cream shops in North Jersey help beat the heat

Van Dyk's Homemade Ice Cream, Ridgewood

Our young expert Ariana with food editor Esther Davidowitz at Van Dyk's on an Ice Cream Food Crawl

It won't win any decor contest, but Van Dyk's is a beloved seasonal institution in North Jersey, which opens its doors on March 1 and closes it the first weekend of December. It's been churning ice cream for some 100 years. Today it offers nearly 40 flavors, including classics such as cookies and cream, coffee chip and chocolate chip mint. Summertime it offers such fruity flavors as cantaloupe, mango, peach and blueberry pie, a hot-weather favorite made with caramelized blueberries with graham crackers mixed in.

Our panel couldn't resist trying flavor after flavor. Justin declared the cookie dough "scrumptious," explaining that he loved the texture of the cookie chunks. He — and his fellow panelists — also were smitten with the very surreal blue cotton candy. Ariana declared the lemon vanilla "sweet," which is, I believe, tantamount to "nailed it," but found that the salted caramel truffle had "too much salt. Donatella, on the other hand, declared it to be "so good." For the record, I found it had just the right balance of salty and sweet. Also highly recommended: the intense cappuccino, it is a coffee-lover's must and a nice caffeine boost.

The awfully generous single scoop, almost the size of a double, costs $3.75. Toppings — unlimited amount — will add another $.80 to that scoop.

Go: 145 Ackerman Ave., Ridgewood; 201-444 1429, vandyksicecream.com.

Curly's Ice Cream, Riverdale

Curly’s Ice Cream in Riverdale is a popular ice cream stand

This six-decade-old family-owned ice cream stand has many fans. Almost always there's a line outside. Never inside, because you can't go inside. Just sidle up to a small window, choose your sugar high for the day (warning: it's not easy given the selection of some 40 flavors), and either grab a seat on a long bench nearby or in Curly's picnic area that just opened. Or, do as we did, enjoy your ice cream standing and watching your fellow sweet tooths enjoy theirs.

Curly's used to be made right in that old-fashioned stand but, due to space or lack thereof, today the ice cream is made in a space a stone's throw away. Its most popular flavor? "Chocolate," said shift manager Casey Smith, even though the menu lists such tempting flavors as almond joy (coconut ice cream dotted with chocolate covered almonds and chocolate flake with a fudge ripple); bananarama (banana ice cream marked with fresh bananas, chocolate flake with a peanut butter ripple); and cocoa loco (double rich dark chocolate splattered with chocolate cake crunch, chocolate flake with a fudge ripple). 

Ariana couldn't resist the cake batter made with Pillsbury yellow cake batter dotted with rainbow sprinkles, and was thrilled she got it. "Thumbs up," she said.

Donatella was similarly impressed with the S'mores (graham base ice cream with Honey Maid graham crackers). "I just like marshmallows," she explained.

And Justin? Enough with gourmet flavors — he went for the other-worldly blue-dyed Cookie Monster, rich vanilla base flecked with crushed Oreos, crushed chocolate chip cookies and crushed chocolate wafers. "One of my favorites," he said. "It has lots of cookies." Can't go wrong with cookies and kids.

Or can you? Cameron, too, tried the Cookie Monster, and while he liked it, he thought it was "too much." 

My favorite? Chocolate raspberry truffle, a rich chocolate ice cream specked with mini dark-chocolate raspberry truffles. Just divine.  

Small cup, $3.05 and $3.61, depending on flavor. Toppings, $.55.

Go:  NJ-23, Riverdale; 973-839-0198, curlysicecream.com.

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