Ample Hills

Ample Hills owner Brian Smith—a former screenwriter who's responsible for such monster films as Alien Express, starring Lou Diamond Phillips—prides himself on running the most-homemade-ice-cream shop in the City. "We're the only place that I've been able to find that makes everything from beginning to end, cracking eggs and combining everything in a pasteurizer on-site and on display," he says. Smith's not kidding about the on-display part: there's a window into the kitchen where every step of the process is labeled and explained, making the shop double as a veritable ice-cream museum. The flavors, by the way, are obviously the product of a creative mind. For example, "Sunday Brunch" is made with maple syrup, cinnamon and French toast bits. Smith sees similarities between creating movie blockbusters and innovative flavors. "It's all the same process of research and experimentation," he explains, "stealing a bit here and there and then coming up with your own twist on stuff." One big difference, though: "The people in the ice-cream world are a little more fun to be around."