I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM

I’ve been cooking at home these past few days, but am itching to venture out to see what there is to see and naturally, eat what there is to eat, here in Boston. A friend who used to live here was kind enough to email me a list of suggestions, and I went on my first outing yesterday. The destination: Toscanini’s. There I met the gracious owner, Gus, whose joviality and eagerness to share restaurant recommendations brightened what had begun as a lousy day. Although Gus had to rush out on some deliveries, I was left with a cup of the most delectable ice cream I’ve had this side of the Atlantic. I will no longer have to yearn for my Roman gelati because Toscanini’s cool confections are sheer bliss.

Toscanini's, 899 Main Street, Cambridge, MA

I eyed the chalkboard menu greedily, reading through flavors like cake batter, lemon vanilla, orange chocolate, khulfee (cardamom and nuts), sweet cream, ginger snap molasses, malted vanilla, and maple walnut. Ultimately I settled on cocoa pudding and cherries and chips.


Cocoa pudding was ultra-thick and chewy, not like freezer section ice cream that melts in your mouth without resistance. If you stuck your spoon in and pulled it out you’d feel it tugging back, like quicksand. I always fantasize of chocolate cake like the one Harriet the Spy used to have after school every day, dense and substantial, but I have yet to find the nonfiction version. However, this cocoa pudding is the closest thing I’ve had to it. Despite its being ice cream, the texture is very nearly cake.


I ate through the gooey chocolate and arrived at cherries and chips. This is ice cream you want to drip out the bottom of your cone, down your arm and elbow, just so you can lick it off. And, as if the gobs of pink, creamy goodness aren’t enough, there were real cherries, dark maroon and fleshy – you could even see where the stem and pit had once been. Delightful, delightful, delightful.