Andean raspberry and corn (yes, corn!) from Cones. They put a little dusting of cinnamon on the corn.

This is the real deal. Hazelnut and coffee at Sal’s in Carroll Gardens. Where they don’t need those pretty cups or spoons, no sir.

This made absolutely no sense. Two rows of perfectly good looking gelato were behind the glass. Usually “trouble with the freezer” means that you need to give it away as fast as you can for free, which is exactly what they should be doing. As I explained this logic to the woman behind the counter she looked at me as if I was the kind of person who is just crazy enough to have a blog named after gelato.

More craziness.

I was intrigued by the “sour, like it should be” frozen yogurt at Zabar’s—Dude! How come no one told me about Zabar’s?—and my sample was much better than Pinkberry, like it should be. But I got the frozen custard instead because, come on. Moments later I got caught in a downpour and ended up drinking my custard.

I’ve been seeing these places all over New York which I thought served some kind of magical soft-serve yogurt/gelato hybrid. Turns out the soft-serve is just regular old yogurt (sour, like it should be, and also better than Pinkberry), but they also have yogurt-based gelato! And I’m glad I went that route became I came up with the winning combination of Ferrero Rocher and coconut. It’s a Mounds bar!

These places are really all over New York: Tasti D-Lite. The most fascinating thing about Tasti D-Lite is not what it tastes like (chocolate and vanilla swirled air) rather it’s listening to everyone try to confirm their theories about how healthy it is. “How many calories in a cone of peanut butter fudge, do you think?” asked a guy with big arms and long curly hair. “250?” Honey, if you’re so worried, go home and have an apple.

More photographic treats, frozen or unfrozen.

Green grape & lychee sorbets at il laboratorio del gelato. Like frozen grapes! Brilliant.
High: 97˚

Black liquorice & butterscotch from L’Arte del Gelato in the Chelsea Market. This is potentially winning in the flavor combination category.
High: 88˚

Dark chocolate with cinnamon and chiles & coconut curry (not visible) from Vosges.
High: 99˚

Would you like more gelato or buildings?

Tarragon pink pepper & rosemary from il laboratorio del gelato, my Manhattan center of gravity. Thank you, Miss Eva.

Pistachio cardamom from Penny Licks in Williamsburg.

Wasabi & taro root from Sundaes and Cones, with my new friend Bronwyn (she opted for classic chocolate & vanilla).

Who knew when you combined the OXO vegetable peeler, farfalle pasta and a rump roast it would create a fragrant bouillabaisse infused with literary delight? Last night was the latest of SVA’s D-Crit design criticism reading nights at KGB, presided over by the program chair—and my dear friend—Alice Twemlow. (You can read more about Alice and D-Crit in a new interview at Subtraction.)

Akiko Busch almost brought me to tears with her touching meditation on the OXO vegetable peeler, which she says was created out of an act of tenderness from a industrial designer to his potato-peeling wife. Then the adorable Paola Antonelli read her deconstruction of pasta design, in which she revealed the true beauty of such readings: You can revert to the original version of your piece, without the “nasty edits.” And then Paul Lukas brought down the house with his survey of butcher charts, which included two changes of costume (one, his Meats shirt above; later, a shirt of a cow slicing itself into perfect t-bones) and a packet of expressly prohibited visuals, which included this gem I like to call Meathattan:

I must admit got a little googly eyed being in the room with so many famous design writers. I sat across from the lovely Karrie Jacobs, met Ralph Caplan, saw hot pants-wearing Emilie Baltz from Core77, was surprised to see one of my editors from Fast Company, David Lidsky, and ran into Keira Alexandra (who I first met in Hawaii, of all places). Not to mention all my old and equally famous good friends. Maybe this is just how New York is; a constant state of googly eyes?

Predictably starving, and craving some kind of beef pasta with exquisitely shaved vegetables, we settled on Congee Village where heaping plates of most of the above cost less per-person than some drinks I’ve purchased in Manhattan. From our spoken word appetizers to watermelon wedge desserts laid over a rice-flecked table: It was an extremely satiating night. But I almost debated stopping here on the way home. Burgers Gelato? Talk about a marriage of food and design!