Amorino

I am not the biggest ice-cream fan you'll ever find. I like Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's, but in fact I have realized that I would love it even more if they would just cut the ice-cream itself and leave me with the chunky things inside, chocolate chips, fudge, cookie dough, caramel, pralines, macadamia nuts. And when you really look at it, eating ice-cream as an alibi to eat chocolate chip cookies isn't really going to hold in court, is it?

But still, even if it isn't my favorite thing in the whole world (you know what that is : it starts with a "c" and is included in the name of this blog), I do sometimes feel like eating something sweet, cold, and creamy. We happen to have a Haagen-Dazs café just two blocks from us, at the foot of the Sacré-Coeur, which is rather convenient. I am personally not a fan of the renowned Berthillon ice-cream, which I find overrated and often too sweet. But I recently discovered Amorino, introduced to me by Laurence, one of my best friends who, having lived for a while in Milan, is quite the Italian ice-cream expert.

Amorino makes Italian-style ice-cream, and has several locations in Paris. An interesting thing to note about Amorino is that they'll serve you as many flavors as you like, in a cup, a waffle cone or a focaccina (a little loaf of brioche) : I've seen a lady ask for six flavors in just one little cup, and the waitress obliged, without so much as raising an eyebrow.

Their ice-cream is laid out in the most lascivious way, filling those big metal vats in rippling ribbons, making it so appetizing you would dive in head-first if a glass casing didn't protect the ice-cream from such uncontrolled behavior. Some ice-cream flavors are also decorated with matching toppings, which may very well land in your cup if you're lucky (or if you ask nicely).

All the ice-cream flavors are in Italian, and this, for someone who barely knows two phrases in Italian (the first one being "Dov'e el bus?" and the other one, to my shame, "Un menu big mac"), makes the flavor selection process a little risky but fun, and just reading the list is like taking a mini-vacation : fragola, amaretto, banana, nutella, mango, limone, meringa, yogurt, baci di dama, maraschino, nocciola, lampone, straciatella...

They also have a way of serving their ice-cream slightly melted that is just perfect for my taste. Small wonder from someone who, as a kid, asked to microwave her ice-cream because it was too cold. (My parents wouldn't let me.)

My latest visit there was just a week ago, after lunch on a brightly sunny weekday. I chose to have some fiore di latte, and a vanilla with cherry swirls flavor I can't seem to recall the name of : amarancella? marancella? maracella? Somebody? In any case, the combo was simply fantalicious, and I have to say, a cup of ice-cream really revs you up between two client appointments.

Amorino
- 47, rue Saint Louis en l'Ile - 75004 Paris
01 44 07 48 08
- 4, rue de Buci - 75006 Paris
01 43 26 57 46
- 4, rue Vavin - 75006 Paris
01 42 22 66 86
- c/o Lafayette Maison
35 boulevard Haussmann - 75009 Paris
- 17 rue Daguerre - 75014 Paris
01 43 20 15 78