Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that a fierce ice-cream battle rages here in the Bay Area. East of the bridge, we have Ici and Sketch, while the city's Bi-Rite Creamery seems to be beating Mitchell's by a fine hair.
Having now eaten at all four on numerous occasions, I feel wholly equipped to say that Bi-Rite's salted caramel ice cream kicks some serious ass, but is (for me anyway) only consumable very rarely. It's just too rich. Mitchell's Macapuno ice cream, on the other hand, is one I could eat once a week and be happy.
On the East side, I still think Ici's ice creams are tooooo sweet, though I understand there are people who like that kind of thing. To be honest, I have rarely finished a whole cup of their confections, and I'm now more likely to get a single bon-bon if I don't take a pass altogether.
Then there's Sketch. My happy place. They recently closed their doors for a couple of months to redo the interior of the shop, and bring in new equipment. Gone are the Italian-style gelati bins; instead there are shiny new soft-serve machines -- three of them -- each serving two flavors.
Now, Ruthie told me that the machines do wonders for maintaining and consistent texture to the flavors, and that makes sense -- they produce a wide assortment of textures from granitas to gelati to heavier ice creams. And the flavors I tasted did have an even better mouthfeel than before.
BUT. The one major flaw in the system is that the only flavors that can be combined are the two flavors in each machine. I'm not sure why they can't do a pull from two different machines -- I understand that it won't be as aesthetically pleasing, but that essentially meant that I couldn't have my old favorite Strauss Yogurt with the Coconut I was so craving.
Instead, I went for the Coconut with Cocoa Nib combination. And don't get me wrong - it was superb. The Cocoa Nib was almost like a lightly chocolatey marshmallow, and the Coconut was so light it (and I freaking hate writing things like this) "danced" on the tongue, leaving behind a strong, rich flavor without a heavy butterfat coating. Pretty perfect, really. Still, I was sad to pass up my tangy favorite.
Next on my list to try at Sketch is the olive oil sundae -- basically the ice cream flavor of your choice (Ruthie or Eric will steer you to a complimentary flavor) drizzled with olive oil and sea salt. I have it on good authority that it's phenomenal.
Sketch Ice Cream
1809 4th Street
Berkeley, CA
510.665.5650