Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream

Artisan ice cream is just part of the story at this sweet, low-key shop. Its genesis was a fleet of ice cream trucks plying the City, also selling baked goods and Intelligentsia coffee drinks. The Van Leeuwen brothers, Ben and Pete, opened their first brick-and-mortar shop in an artsy part of Greenpoint, inside a groovy piano bar and restaurant, the Manhattan Inn. The ice cream is made from local dairy products and each ingredient is hand-selected by the brothers—they use organic, aged vanilla beans, Michel Cluizel French chocolate, Bronte pistachios from Sicily and biodynamic Ceylon cinnamon from Costa Rica. Store-baked treats include sticky buns, butterscotch cookies, cheddar chive scones and lemon ricotta pound cake.