SADLY, GUERILLA ICE CREAM IS NOW CLOSED.
Everybody’s gotta have a gimmick, right? It’s certainly true when it comes to ice cream. Sure, you could make simple flavors and hark back to the old ice cream shops of the 5o’s. But isn’t it fun when you flamboyantly dress up your Mr. Softee truck (Big Gay Ice Cream) or make liquid nitrogen ice cream (Lulu & Mooky’s) or vegan ice cream (Stogo)? But who could have seen Guerilla Ice Cream’s gimmick coming?
This brand new mobile ice cream vendor is selling ice cream sundaes named after and inspired by political revolutions. Say what? It doesn’t seem to make much sense to me, but just go with the strange names like Red Corridor and Velvet Revolution. I don’t know enough (okay, I don’t know anything) about these revolutionary movements to make the connection with the names. So to me it seems rather arbitrary and gimmicky. But they do make some crazy, intriguing flavors and toppings. And Che Guevara be damned, if it tastes good, who cares what it all means?
They’re set up on Saturdays at the Hester Street Fair and at the Fulton Stall Market on Sundays. I caught them a few weeks back at the Hester Street Fair, which is a foodie nerd’s wet dream. You could eat an avocado paleta, a cheddar truffle pretzel, and a kimchi dog all in a matter of a few minutes. These are unique vendors selling their food because they’re passionate about it. And most of these guys don’t have a home. They’re a new kind of street vendor, who instead of moving from street to street, move from internet sites to food festivals.
Guerilla Ice Cream is one of three vendors selling frozen treats (La Newyorkina does paletas and Melt Bakery does ice cream sandwiches) at the Fair. And they’re the ones making the most unique flavor combinations. The watermelon and avocado paletas are great, but nothing touches Steel Buddha Tea Sorbet topped with Chinese walnut cookies and dragonfruit.
That was their special the day I showed up. It was called Chinatown Tea Party and it was amazing. The sorbet had some rich, earthy tea flavors that was refreshing and the texture of the sweet crunchy cookie pieces with the mild sweetness of the dragonfruit was just incredible.
And that was just one of six flavor combinations on offer. They were more than eager to let us try as many as we want – they have to be if they’re going to sell such obscure flavors as chai masala. Everything we tasted was intensely flavored and the toppings all sounded great. The most pedestrain flavor they served was the dark chocolate and port wine, which had a very dense, rich texture and a slightly bitter but lively chocolate bite.
They can call this stuff whatever they want, but as long as they put inspired and innovative flavors and ingredients together, I’ll come find them at Hester Street Fair or wherever they may be.
Is Guerrilla Ice Cream the best ice cream in NY? They get a 7 out of 10 because it’s certainly unique and while it may not appeal to all palates, it’s a fun concept and their flavor combinations work well.
