Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1500213
112 Holy Cow Ice Cream Café In 2014, Lynnfield native Mike Schifino purchased an abandoned building in Gloucester with the intention of converting it into condominiums. A decade later, his accidental business, Holy Cow Ice Cream Café, is more than thriving. In the beginning, Holy Cow sourced its ice cream from New England icon Richardson's (check them out in Middleton) before the shop began making its own. Holy Cow's Ritzy AF salted butter was awarded the best flavor of the year in 2022 by the North American Ice Cream Association. "We might use blue spirulina food coloring, which is $100 a pound, to color our ice cream," Schifino says of his ice creams. "But we're also soaking that same ice cream in Fruity Pebbles to get the Fruity Pebbles taste." The result is a unique mix of high and low. With three North Shore locations—the Gloucester space has expanded into Salem and Peabody with a fourth outpost set to open in Dennisport in May—this New England staple is a must-visit this summer. Holy Cow Ice Cream Café, 86 Andover Street, Peabody, 978-587- 2255, 80 Pleasant Street, Gloucester, 978-281- 0313; 181 Fort Avenue, Salem, 978-498-4387, holycowicecreamcafe.com Melt Ice Cream Christiana Kroondyk developed a passion for ice cream during a 2009 vacation in Cape May, New Jersey, when she happened upon a boutique ice cream shop with compelling flavors. Melt Ice Cream—which she first operated as the Salem Screamery—leans into local vendors, locally sourced flavors, and the community at large. The store sells more than 10 permanent flavors, like white minty chip, maple bourbon, and atomic coffee, as well as a roster of rotating ones, which reflect the season, the zeitgeist, and the moods and vicissitudes of the owner. A In New England, we're all screaming for ice cream. A historic passion that dates back to the days of the soda fountain, which was invented in Lowell in 1863, some reports have shown New Englanders eating as much as 30 percent more ice cream than other Americans, even leading the world in ice cream consumption. If winnowing down the plethora of icy choices feels hard, we've made quick work of it. Here are five small-batch ice cream spots to visit this summer on the North Shore.