Il Laboratorio del Gelato: Serious name, serious gelato !

Ever since tasting the brilliant flavors of Cafe del Hidalgo in St. Augustine, FL, I have been on a perpetual search for divine gelato in New York.  The search brought me to Il Laboratorio del Gelato on Sunday.  The weather was cold and damp that day--the perfect setting for an outdoor stroll and a cup of ice cream.

The potential for Il Laboratorio was high:
1. Located on the Lower East Side, where all my beloveds are, dangerously close to Doughnut Plant for a one-two calorie punch!
2. The ridiculous list of flavors including Mexican cinnamon, Thai chili chocolate, wasabi and more.  Ree-dic-u-lous!!

Il Laboratorio has a small storefront on Orchard and Delancey. 

You cannot see the flavors until you are right at the window, and they feature 10 flavors each for gelato and sorbet. 

Today's gelato flavors included salted caramel, ricotta, sage, amaretto crunch, marscapone.  Salted caramel looked ridiculous with a gooey layer of caramel.

You can select 2 flavors for the small and 3 in the medium.  I opted for a small, since I had taken part of that amazing brunch experiment earlier, and selected marscapone and cinnamon (predictable). 

The texture of the gelato was sooo smooth and pure and lovely.  The cinnamon was beautiful. 

Just.

Beautiful.

The small was a perfect portion of indulgence without the guilt.

Still, with the splendid flavors, and the uhhh-mazing cinnamon, I am totally going to rock a medium with three flavors next time.  Cafe del Hidalgo, you may have met your match !

Il Laboratorio del Gelato

95 Orchard Street

New York, NY 10002-3112

(212) 343-9922