Stracciatella Dreams, at Caffè Panna
After a pandemic blip, which spurred the addition of hand-packed pints to the roster, Caffè Panna’s popularity continued to grow—social media loves a towering sundae, and a buzzy collab (Levain Bakery, “Somebody Feed Phil,” the list goes on). Energized by the food scene in Greenpoint, Meyer has opened a new outpost there, big enough, at nearly five thousand square feet, to house an actual ice-cream factory and a seating area. At either location, scoops come in a brown-paper cup, with the option of added “panna” (whipped cream), “drizzle” (chocolate, salty caramel, strawberry, or olive oil), and “crunch” (Oreo, a graham-cracker crunch, flaky salt, or rainbow sprinkles)‚ all gratis.
Icy Italian espresso is layered with whipped cream for the Granita di Caffè (left); olive oil and sea salt tops a vanilla scoop (right).
The ice cream is rich, almost chewy, the flavors specific and fun: classics include an optimal stracciatella, coffee-infused and striated with crackling slivers of Amano chocolate, and a somehow subtle cookies and cream with “housemade Oreo brittle”; recent one-offs were a cherry-and-pie-crust number, Sicilian pistachio with lemon-bar chunks, and a mild fresh-mint gelato swirled with dark fudge. Affogatos, scoops topped with espresso, offer the best of both worlds, and recently, in Greenpoint, a searingly sour lemon granita, layered with panna, lemon rind, mint, and scant sugar, was one of the most deliciously bracing citrus dishes I’ve had.
