RKS Travel: Ithaca, New York: Would You Travel 23 Miles for Ice Cream?

Posted byRobert K Stephen (CSW)Posted inTravelTags:, , , , , , , , , , , ,

On the way to Flemington, New Jersey for a birthday party I stopped off in Ithaca, New York to break up the trip from Toronto.

My waitress one night was effusive with her praise about 32 Below Ice Cream Shop located in Van Etten New York. So effusive in fact it necessitated a visit from a person who is not wild about ice cream.

It is a 23-minute drive from Ithaca. The ice cream parlour is not hard to miss in a town with a population a bit shy of 500. Simple and plain describes the décor. No Manhattan trendy nonsense.

My waitress said the owner, Craig Ahart, was a 25-year-old who learnt the ice cream trade in Florida. I think Craig is closer to thirty but I suppose that categorizes him as a whippersnapper.

Craig manning the till! Photo: R. Kennedy Stephen

Whoever taught Craig the secrets of ice cream small batch production did a thorough job. Small batch means 1.5 gallons of ice cream. My double scoop of Frankenstein was monstrously exceptional and it consisted of vanilla ice cream, Ghirardelli chocolate, Nescafe coffee and dark chocolate chips and at $4 more than a fair price.

His ice cream is made from fresh cream from Upstate Farms. In addition to ice cream one can delight with gelato, sorbet and Italian ice.

It is located on 5 Railroad Street.

And yes, it is worth the 23-mile drive from Ithaca.

Published by Robert K Stephen (CSW)

Robert K Stephen writes about food ,drink, travel, film, and lifestyle issues. He also has published serialized novels "Life at Megacorp", "Virus # 26, "Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog" and "The Penniless Pensioner" Robert was the first associate member of the Wine Writers’ Circle of Canada. He also holds a Mindfulness Certification from the University of Leiden and the University of Toronto. Be it Spanish cured meat, dried fruit, BBQ, or recycled bamboo place mats, Robert endeavours to escape the mundane, which is why he has established this publication. His motto is, "Have Story, Will Write."

2 thoughts on “RKS Travel: Ithaca, New York: Would You Travel 23 Miles for Ice Cream?”

  1. We appreciate you stopping in to 32 Below on such a rainy day to try our homemade ice cream. It was nice to meet you and love the review of your experience. We are happy to meet all new visitors in our area! Thank you again!

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