Am I the only one that feels like a great meal is incomplete without something sweet, like ice cream?  The other night after an awesome meal at a cookout in Mount Vernon, I reluctantly asked my friend if we could take a detour on our trip back to Jersey from Mount Vernon, NY.  Most people in NJ and NY believe that traveling to one or the other is like crossing a country border.  So, asking her to take a detour is like asking someone to take a 2 hour detour on a 8 hour road trip.  Luckily she is a foodie too, and will travel for food.
10Below is an awesome hidden gem of an ice cream shop in the East Village on St. Marks Place, but it is not like any ice cream shop that I have visited before.  We have all seen the Facebook videos of the people making ice cream from the ice cream base and mixing in the fresh toppings on a freezing cold “burner” (advanced cold plate) and rolling up the strips of ice cream and finally placing them in a cup to make a cute little bouquet of ice cream rolls topped with what ever you can dream up.

My Order

I ordered the “Strawberry Shawty”.  When I ordered it, the guy confirmed with me that I ordered the “Strawberry Shorty”, and I quickly teased him and corrected him “I ordered the Strawberry Shawty, you named it that not me, call it what you named it”.  The Strawberry Shawty is made up very simply, with the vanilla ice cream base, strawberries and graham crackers, I had granola whipped cream and strawberries as my toppings.  10Below have several locations sprinkled through NYC, but I hear the guys behind this project are crossing a few state lines to open more locations for 10Below, so look for one in your neck of the woods, with this winning concept, I have 4 words, “move over Baskin Robbins”, and three more “Cold Stone who?”
Before I get to the video links and picture of my Strawberry Shawty, let me just tell you guys one more thing.  You know how you go to other ice cream places and order a shake, and they may make too much, but very rarely do they give you the excess? 10Below puts the little scraps that didn’t make it into the roll at the bottom of your cup, and then make your little bouquet of rolls, they save nothing for themselves.  I can’t be the only one that hopes for the extra little bit that didn’t fit into the smoothie or shake cup.

10below in action 1

10Below in action 2