Molly Moon's: In which we pay a visit to the local behometh

I'm starting to be able to feel it in the air and see it in the shortening days that summer is coming to a close in Seattle. But, last weekend was absolutely beautiful, so we took advantage of what may (hopefully not!) be the final "summer" weekend by paying a visit to a classic Seattle ice cream shop: Molly Moon's. Molly Moon's is an institution in Seattle; there are shops in many Seattle neighborhoods (Wallingford, Capital Hill, Madrona, Queen Anne, University Village and 19th and Mercer) and even a Molly Moon's ice cream cookbook. When we moved here and started researching ice cream places to try, it was immediately obvious we couldn't neglect this ice cream empire.

We decided to walk to the Wallingford Molly Moon location on a beautiful evening. We clearly weren't the only people taking advantage of the beautiful weather; we were joined by many others, with patrons spilling out onto the sidewalk enjoying their ice cream. Although it was busy, the line moved quickly, with employees actively engaging customers in line. Forrest and I both tasted a couple of flavors. We had read online that the salted caramel was very salty, so we wanted to try it before deciding whether we wanted a full cone. True to the reviews, it was extremely salty; Forrest and I both found it unpleasantly so. The caramel notes were also very simplistic; the classic Bi-Rite salted caramel has a complex smoky palette that Molly Moon's was completely lacking, we thought to its detriment. The Scout Mint was the best flavor we tasted; it was light and minty, without being overly sweet or conjuring the essence of toothpaste. Balsamic strawberry was nicely balanced between two flavors and was bright and summery, but the balsamic flavor gave the ice cream a slightly odd savory element that I found somewhat off-putting. A maple walnut ice cream was rather uninspired; I found it bland and lacking maple flavor.

While Forrest and I both weren't very impressed with the flavors, the ice cream was technically excellent; it was smooth, creamy and rich. However, we overall both felt that although the ice cream was good and well executed, it was not exceptional. What we noticed about the ice cream was creaminess and sweetness, rather than exceptional flavors. So, while the ice cream was enjoyable, and we thought Molly Moon's was solid, classic ice cream, we don't think it's a player in the big leagues.

*Pro-tip- you get more ice cream if you do a single scoop with two flavors making it very good value!

Texture - 8
Flavors - 5
Cone - 8
Execution - 6
Taste - 6
Ambiance/service/etc - 9

42/60

Mora Iced Creamery: We head to Bainbridge Island for an afternoon

To mark the "official" last day of summer, we decided to take a day trip out to Bainbridge Island. It's a short and beautiful 20 minute or so ferry ride from Pier 52 in Seattle out to the Bainbridge ferry terminal. (Bonus fact: you only have to pay the fare from Seattle to Bainbridge) It was a glorious sunny day, and so after stopping at the free (!) art museum and walking through downtown a bit, we (obviously) wanted ice cream. We had read from the great interwebs that Mora ice cream was amazing (which was secretly one of our major motivations for going to Bainbridge Island in the first place).

Mora Ice Creamery was started in 2002 by Ana Orselli and Jerry Perez. Originally from Argentina, Orselli and Perez sought to combine elements of both Argentinian and Pacific Northwest culture in their shop. They wanted a comfortable gathering place for friends and family, but above all to make delicious ice cream using fresh, local ingredients. These ideas are reflected in the name "mora," which means blackberry in Spanish and Italian.

On the sunny afternoon when we arrived, there was a big crowd at Mora (when the ferry comes and disgorges its passengers, it's clear that many of them head rapidly towards ice cream- so if you can work out your timing in between ferries, you'll have a shorter wait!). However, service was speedy, partly because of a slightly unorthodox line organization, in which you pay first for your desired size, and then move onto tasting and ordering your ice cream flavors (additional tip: one can have two flavors in a "single scoop"). We were also impressed by the knowledge of the staff; none of the ice creams are labeled, but everyone seems to just know by some kind of muscle memory where each flavor is. While the flavors in general skew towards traditional (no black pepper ice cream here), there is a wide variety, including many, many chocolate variations, as well as a generous array of fruit-flavored ice creams and sorbets. Everything we had was delicious. The ice cream is technically perfect, with no detectable crystals and a rich, smooth texture. Mora's dedication to fresh flavors is obvious as well; I had lemon sorbet and blackberry (mora) ice cream, both of which were amazing. Fruity, bright and refreshing- the perfect combination for a warm afternoon. Forrest got raspberry cheesecake, which was smooth and rich, but lightened by the bright raspberry accent, and peanut butter chocolate moreo, which had generous chunks of peanut butter and an Oreo-like cookie. The cone was delicous and nicely accented both ice creams; importantly, it also had a wide mouth, facilitating the overall structural integrity of the cone (no one likes when you have a narrow mouth cone with the ice cream sitting on top- that's when you give your cone a lick, and end up feeding the sidewalk, which is an ice cream tragedy).

Mora was hands down the best ice cream we've had since we moved here, and I expect it to remain a seriously tough competitor in our ice cream-off. The smooth, rich ice cream accented by the fresh
ingredients and wide flavor selection were a delectable treat. Here's how our final scores came out:

Texture - 9
Flavors - 8
Cone - 9
Execution - 9
Taste - 9
Ambiance/service/etc - 9

53/60

Fainting Goat Gelato: We sample a neighborhood gelateria

Forrest and I are finally at least most of the way to being settled into our new Seattle apartment. To celebrate, we decided (of course) to check out one of our nearby neighborhoods, Wallingford. The main strip in Wallingford is home to at least two ice cream establishments; local behemoth Molly Moon and Fainting Goat gelato. We decided to start our explorations at Fainting Goat, which was started in 2009 by Yalcin and Sevim Ataman.

We went on a lovely and warm evening to sample the gelato. Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, but has several differences from American ice cream. Gelato has lower fat content than ice cream and is churned very slowly, allowing less air to be incorporated into the final product. This leads to the formation of fewer crystals, making gelato exceptionally rich and creamy. Gelato is also served at a slightly warmer temperature than ice cream.



The space occupied by Fainting Goat is open and light, with ample seating and benches outside for people-watching on the sidewalk. The bins holding the gelato are accented with garnishes indicating flavors. It was slow when we arrived, so we had ample opportunity to sample gelatos before deciding. We each tried several flavors, with mixed results. A mint gelato was simultaneously too minty and too sweet; a habenero mango flavor was an interesting combination, with a slow spiciness, but wan't appealing for a whole serving. A pomegranate-blueberry sorbet had an oddly dental aftertaste and texture; in both the sorbet and a coconut gelato, the addition of whole blueberries or grated coconut reminded us of the fresh ingredients that had been used, while not adding to the overall texture of the gelato. However, the flavor that really shined was a seasonal lemon-basil gelato, which was delicious. Both the lemon and basil flavors were bright and obvious; the flavors synergized into a delicious combination. Overall, we felt that while the flavors and ingredient were consistently fresh and obvious, the gelato lacked in sophistication compared to other ice creams we've tasted. Our final scores came out to:


Texture - 4
Flavors - 6
Cone - n/a (although the homemade waffle cones did look delicious)
Execution - 4
Taste - 4
Ambiance/service/etc - 8

Overall - 26/50

Parfait Organic Artisan Ice Cream: we make a trip to explore Ballard

Frankly, our most important mission in Seattle is finding the best ice cream in the area. San Francisco had great ice cream. My personal top 4 ice cream establishments back in SF were Bi-Rite, Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous, Humphrey Slocombe and Smitten. Although Mitchell's always makes it into a list of top ice cream shops, for me it will always remain a trailing 5th place. We'll enumerate on the properties of each of these establishments in the coming weeks. But, we recently made our first foray into the ice cream scene into Seattle.

To most accurately quantify our ice cream experiences, we've decided to rate the ice cream purveyors in six categories: texture, flavor selection, cone quality (while we don't always get a cone, for this survey, we'll take one for the team and try one), flavor execution, overall taste and ambiance/service. We'll rate each category on a deeply subjective 10-point scale to establish a quantitative ranking mechanism. Someday, after enough sampling, we'll be able to crown a victor. However, although our goal is to find the best ice cream we can, I anticipate that most everywhere we try will be good enough to warrant repeat visits.

In an effort to couple our ice cream tasting to some neighborhood tourism, we headed over to Ballard to try Parfait. Parfait, started by Adria Shimada (who shares my deep and abiding love of ice cream), uses organic ingredients and sources as many of them as possible from local producers. Shimada's goal was to bring the ethos of Parisian pastry techniques to the production of ice cream; one delicious by-product of this goal is that there are a variety of treats in addition to ice cream.

Forrest and I went to sample the goods one evening after doing some running and biking. Parfait started as an ice cream truck, but now has a brick and mortar space in Ballard. The space is gorgeous; modern and simple decor, with soft lighting and light wood finishes. There is space for kids to play (and toys provided by nearby toy store Clover) and plenty of seating. There were just a few other people when we arrived, and service was friendly. We tried several flavors before deciding; I opted for a split scoop of blackberry and chocolate hazelnut, while Forrest got the butter toffee crunch. The blackberry was delicious, with lots of bright, summery flavor. The hazelnut had a mild flavor that could have had more intensity; the butter toffee crunch was elevated by home-made toffee. I also sampled the chocolate peanut butter cup (I love that combination!), which had giant chunks of peanut butter, my favorite incarnation of chocolate/peanut butter ice cream. The ice cream had noticeable crystals, which gave it a lighter profile than some richer, creamier ice creams I've had; however, I felt that the texture took away a little bit from the richness of the ingredients. We also tried the cone, which was thick and slightly chewy, but complemented the ice cream well.

So, our overall scores came out to:

Texture: 5
Flavors: 7
Cone: 8
Execution: 7
Taste: 7
Ambiance and service: 8

Overall: 42/60

Who are we and what is this blog?

Forrest and I just (just!) moved from San Francisco to Seattle. We LOVED San Francisco, and are sad to leave. But every time we say we're moving to Seattle, we've gotten rave reviews of the city, so we're excited to start exploring. However, there were a few things that we thought SF did exceptionally well- ice cream and burritos to name just a couple. So, our goal is to document our efforts to find the best of Seattle and maybe re-live a few favorite memories from back in SF. :)