Chevre Fig Gelato

Ever since we had the good fortune to have the best gelato shop outside of Italy open up right in our neighborhood, it's become part of our Friday night routine. Pazzo Gelato in Silver Lake gets the freshest farmer's market ingredients to make the most wonderfully fresh tasting strawberry, the mintiest mint. Their Venezuelan chocolate sorbetto is stunningly dark and rich, capturing all the flavor of the criollo cacao beans, and you can't help but be amazed that there's no dairy in it. Their nut flavors are especially rich, so hazelnut or pistacchio is always a treat, as well as our beloved almond-fig. Another favorite of mine is "mad jack", which is Madagascar vanilla with Jack Daniels in it. Last night, there was a bevy of new flavors, including root beer and a couple of chevre-based gelatos, one with figs and one with berries. I went for the chevre with figs (they're in season, and I love fresh figs), and the compliment with the creamy and slightly sour-salty taste of the goat cheese was just marvelous. I love figs, I love cheese, and I love gelato. The combination of the three was inspired and sublime. The only downside to this gelato shop is the difficulty in narrowing down all the marvelous options to only two flavors.