Perhaps it is stating the obvious, since the Twin Cities is centrally located in a dairy state, but I’m going to say it anyway: the Twin Cities has the best ice cream in the U.S. You pretty much can’t swing a cat without hitting an artisanal ice cream “parlor.” Grand Ole Creamery and Sebastian Joe’s are extremely good; the latter, particularly, has some exquisite flavors, such as Chocolate Coyote (cayenne and cinnamon lend an unusual contrast to cool, creamy, sweet) or spumoni (almond-lemon-orange ice cream with slivered almonds and apricots). And there are some newer contenders that we have yet to fully explore.
My hands-down favorite, though, is Izzy’s. The winning factors for me include the following
~proximity
Izzy’s is only a fifteen-minute bike ride from our house
~playful use of technology
a computer screen projected on the wall shows available flavors, but it also synchs to a facebook page so you can have updates all day long!
~creative flavors
Many flavors are created by customers by way of an annual contest. Some of these winning flavors, such as Hot Brown Sugar (caramel ice cream studded with cayenne pralines), have become standards. The boys love Dinosaur Egg (malted vanilla ice cream enlivened with blue food coloring and malted milk balls).
~commitment to sustainability
A majority of the power used to make ice cream and run the shop comes from roof-top solar panels.
~an Izzy
a complementary, melon-ball-sized scoop of ice cream that tops all singles and doubles
Izzy’s is located at 2034 Marshall Avenue (Cleveland Avenue) in St. Paul.
