The Great Ice Cream Debate -- Ici vs. Sketch

So, if you've followed the happenings in the East Bay dessert world, you know that a couple of Chez Pannisse alums recently opened a cutie-patootie ice cream "parlor" called Ici in Berkeley.

But is there room in the hearts of East Bay-ers for TWO cutie patootie frozen dessert joints? Because, unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past year or so, you know that we over here love us some Sketch. Eric & Ruthie have developed what can only be described as a cult following for their lusciously heady frozen confections.

This past weekend, C and I were battling Cals fans as we drove through Berkeley, and fortuitously found ourselves in a holding pattern directly in front of Ici, on College Avenue. As I swung the car into the yellow, I yelled (with all the passion of a football coach, natch), "Run, go, RUN! Two flavors. Pick two. Any two. Just MOVE!"

Good man that he is, he was in and out in less than two minutes, a single scoop cone of vanilla for him, and a cup of Earl Grey and Pine Nut Praline for me. Before I go any further, let me just say that their cone is the BEST CONE I HAVE EVER EATEN - light and flaky like a Pirouette, with a happy little nubbin of dark chocolate at the base.

Side note: I don't think I ever told you guys this, but my first and last attempt at ice cream making was an Earl Grey flavor. One that I tried to serve to this obssesed couple. I over-steeped the tea, so the end product was pretty much inedible -- it was horribly tannic and horribly horrible. Thus, I feel uniquely equipped to judge Earl Grey ice creams.

The verdict? I found Ici's ice creams all a little too sweet for my palate. On the other hand, the flavors themselves were tremendously pure and, well, flavorful. Texturally, the vanilla and tea were lovely and smooth, with a nice mouth-coating butterfat content. There was a hint of extremely fine graininess to the pine nut ice cream, which didn't distract from the experience; unfortunately I couldn't help but think would never happen at Sketch.

It's important to note, however, that Eric & Ruthie don't sell what they make as "ice cream" -- their repertoire is predominantly gelato with a few granitas thrown in for fun. That said, I still think that what they do is perhaps a little more refined than Ici, and I like that. So, for the time being at least, I will be heading to Fourth Street rather than College Avenue for my frozen treat fix.

Ici Ice Cream
2948 College Avenue, Berkeley
Open Tues - Sun, 11am - 9pm

Sketch Ice Cream
1809-A Fourth Street, Berkeley
510.665.5650
Open Sun - Thurs, 12pm - 6pm, Fri & Sat 12pm - 8pm

Tags: Food, Food & Drink, Berkeley, San Francisco, Dessert, Ice Cream, Gelato

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Comments

[Amy]

I still need to check out both Ici AND Gelato Milano in Berkeley which also gets super rave reviews. Have you tried Milano yet? So far of the places I've tried Sketch rocks and Naia really disappoints.

[kungfoodie kat]

I'm also a huge fan of gelato over ice cream and have yet to try Ici. The quality of Gelato Milano has gone downhill in the last year so I don't go there anymore. Sketch is it!!!

It's so damn hard to live in Berkeley, home to many many crazy fattening food pleasures. I must pace myself (trips to Bittersweet only happen every couple months when I visit my hair stylist). It's divine riding your bike around in the early morning hours of the left bank around seventh near Ashby...smell the chocolate! smell the bread! Ahhhhhhhh

[Fatemeh]

I liked Gelato Milano well enough when I tried it last year, but my memory IS a little hazy.

Sounds like this is going to be an extended taste-test battle!

[Catherine]

I adore Gelato Milano. Fiendishly, insensibly, madly adore it.

Having said that, I find that I no longer enjoy ice cream as much as I used to. I think it's because, as you say of Ici, it is so sweet. So maybe your preference for Sketch over Ici is partly to blame on sweetness v. density.

I still want to try Ici, though, just for a taste. But being in Berkeley come cone time, well, it's hard not to just head to Milano...

[shelly]

I tried a vanilla scoop on a cone at Ici a couple of weeks ago, and basically felt the same way. I haven't tried Sketch yet (hold on while I crawl out from under this rock). I do tend to prefer gelati over ice creams, so I should probably check it out.

Thanks for the tip!

[Jasmine]

I really really wanted to love Ici, and I did love a few things. The Meyer Lemon ice cream sandwich with gingerbread cookies is fantastic, and the rum raisin ice cream was a great. But the Fig and the Coffee Chocolate Chip were a little icy and too sweet. Over all, though, their ice cream is WAY too expensive, and I don't mind spending money on great food. The ice cream sandwich is about the size of my palm, and is $4.50. The smallest size of ice cream is one very tiny scoop, and is $2.50. At that price, it's special occasion ice cream, and only certain of the flavors are worth being saved for a special occasion.

[Becky]

Having tried Ici this past weekend, I can't say that I loved it all too much. I wanted to love it (I have a thing for places that utilize great fonts), but my fig ice cream was somehow almost dry with only the slightest taste of fig. The vanilla was merely adequate.

My favorite gelato place is Tango Gelato in Pac Heights. When we lived in the 'hood, we'd go there all the time. It's one of the things I miss most about the city. Imagine my surprise when I saw a Tango Gelato open up on Piedmont Avenue. I don't know if it's the same owners, but I'm definitely going to give it a try.

[Sofia]

Naia is AMAZING, i've gone there a million times and i still have to try the gelato before i buy. the masala chai one is really good and mango is one of my all time favorites. guiness was delicious as well. and i'm not even gonna start on the chocolate ones

I heard the hype and wanted to enjoy it, so I went to Ici before a movie at the Elmwood. The Earl Grey was OK, but the chocolate was so flavorless that I threw the rest of the cone into a trash can. If I'm going to consume that amount of calories, I want to at least enjoy the taste.