Ample Hills

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I declared my Best Ice Cream In NYC Challenge from Refinery29’s list, and, so it begins. For my first stop, I was off to Ample Hills at their brand new, second location in Gowanus, Brooklyn. 

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Complete with an ample (no pun intended) amount of seating inside, and on their second floor, this new location also includes a rooftop patio with benches and tables to enjoy your ice cream outdoors with a view. They have over a dozen flavors to choose from, and they’re all handcrafted in small batches, using fresh, local, all-natural milk, cream and eggs. 

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And, just like my favorite open kitchen format, they have a glass panel to their kitchen, where you can watch the masters hard at work. 

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I chose their Salted Crack Caramel (salted butter caramel ice cream with pieces of Deb’s famous crack cookies (saltines, butter, sugar, chocolate)) in a Pretzel Cone. Holy $h!t. This was so amazing and delicious. First off, the ice cream is rich and creamy in texture, and the flavor is warm and dynamic, offering the perfect salty and sweet mix. And the pieces of the crack cookies are not just little bits here and there, there are big, generous chunks throughout. And, they’re ridiculous. Also, this homemade pretzel cone is insane, it’s crisp, but has a sort of softness to it, and compliments the ice cream flavor like whoa (that’s a technical term, introduced by Joey Lawrence). And let’s be honest, you have to get a cone anyway, because turning down a cone for a cup is like refusing a free snack. Who does that? Not this girl. 

The Shorts:
Name: Ample Hills
Location: 305 Nevins St., Brooklyn
The Long and Short: Would I go back? No, I hate delicious, scratch-made ice cream that tastes like heaven. Sarcasm. Yes, I’d like to live there.
Would I recommend it? 100% guaranty that you’ll get addicted. And you can sample lots of flavors so you can wish you could order them all.  

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Fools Gold

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I used to love fools gold as a kid. I’m clever, so, I realized it wasn’t real, but still, the look of it was pretty awesome, and, I felt cool owning it. Now that I’m older, well, I still kind of like it. But, when I heard of a bar opening with the same name sake, well, I had to check it out. So, I went to Fools Gold on the Lower East Side. 

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This rustic and wooden clad, keg adorned bar offers about 30 beers on draft and a food menu with snacks and entrees. I went for happy hour, where you can get $5 beers, wines, whiskey, and $1 oysters. 

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I grabbed a glass of RoséIt was pretty delightful, crisp, and for $5, no complaints here. 

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Then, you always need a little bit of a snack to go with some drinks. So, I had some of their Popcorn with Truffle Oil. A tad bit on the oily side, but the flavor was awesome. Popcorn really is, like, the perfect snack. 

The Shorts:
Name: Fools Gold
Location: 145 East Houston Street, NYC
The Long and Short: Would I go back? Yes, the vibes here are really laid back, and you can score a great happy hour without feeling like you’re in a grimy dive. 
Would I recommend it? For sure, especially if you’re a beer drinker, there are lots of options to choose from.