gelato at Black Dog

I had the bluebery mint, the mixed berries sorbet and I am now addicted to vanilla malt...YOU know the place is good when a 8 yr kid waited outside ona bench for 30 minutes for the place to open. I (and my doctor)am so glad the place is not closer to me!!!

It is a little too close to me so the girlfriend and I have been a few too many times. Great gelato (and sorbets) with rotating flavors. I'd say that at least half the offerings are different each time that I've been.

One tip, go early. They tend to run out of stuff, especially on Sunday, as Monday is their primary production day.

This past Sunday evening they were out of most everything so I settled with watermelon kiwi sorbet with melon lavender sorbet. It was quite delicious even though I had a hankering for some creamy gelato.

Black Dog Gelato
859 North Damen Avenue
(773) 235-3116

This past weekend they had avocado cinnamon. That was the best to me this time around. I have gone more than you can count on 2 hands. It is too close for my own good.

I've sampled the Goat Cheese & Walnut, and the Balsamic Vinegar. The Goat Cheese was very close in flavor to a butter pecan, but with a slight tangy edge from the goat cheese. Very good, but for my tastes, it could have used a little more sharpness; a bit more presence from the cheese. The Balsamic was even better. A distinct balsamic flavor that they didn't try to mask with any extra sweetness. The balsamic tasted like it was a very good quality vinegar; the grade of balsamic you would pour over strawberries.

Come to think of it, that might be a good flavor for them to try-Balsamic & Strawberries.

Buddy

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:Come to think of it, that might be a good flavor for them to try-Balsamic & Strawberries.

I believe a friend had the same thing in mind. He ordered the balsamic with some of their strawberry gelato. A good idea, but I think he was somewhat disappointed; the strawberry on our visit was more subtle than he expected.

I have also paired balsamic with strawberry and I was very happy with the results. The flavors complemented one another well, with the sweet strawberry and tangier balsamic. I really wanted to try the white chocolate banana curry, and I did get a tasting spoon of it, but then the person in front of me ordered the last of it.

Ziggy is absolutely correct in that you should go earlier in the day, not after dinner, if you want a full selection of flavors.

I have to say I wasn't a huge fan of the balsamic flavor, and I love balsamic vinegar. I ended up going with the cucumber rosewater sorbet. Delicious!!

Any more recent experiences here? With the sun peeking out just barely today, I'm somehow convincing myself that summer - and hence ice cream (or gelato) -- is just around the corner. Thanks!

I haven't gotten there as often recently with their winter hours in effect, but I really enjoyed a half & half cup of Pistachio & Lavender Peanut Marshmallow last week. They were out of some flavors by the time I got there, so I'll have to go back for the Three Floyd's Milk Stout gelato, but it's nice to see that they're still doing well in the slow season. I have a hard time choosing between Black Dog and Scooter's: I appreciate that in the winter I don't have to.

Thanks for the feedback. All you had to say was "milk stout," and I'm there!

You know what the best part about Black Dog is? It's right down the block from Hoosier Mama Pie Company (and vice versa). Ukranian Village: where insulin shock is just another life choice.

After scarfing down a Fiorentino pizza at Coalfire (a lighter choice than our usual Meats, chosen in anticipation of more treats to come), and en route to replenish supplies at Freddy's, we paid a visit to Black Dog Gelato. We started with a large 3 flavor cup: goat cheese, caramel and cashew; fig and sesame; and coffee (don't remember the adjective that went with it). Excellent! What a delight to be able to distinguish the scoops in a cup by their distinctive flavors, not their color. It's certainly the best gelato we've had in Chicago and compares very well to the barrels of superb gelato we've eaten in Italy over the years.

Since our stomachs expand in anticipation of a Meats pizza at Coalfire, we had remaining capacity and ordered a second (small) cup with our newly found favorite goat cheese sharing the space with 3 Floyds milk stout. The goat cheese was as good as we remembered it from five minutes before, and the 3 Floyds was a worthy companion. Our waistlines are grateful that 25 miles separate us from Black Dog. But it is only a slight detour on our way home from work if we drive...

I have to say that while I often hear great praise about Black Dog gelato, I just don't see any reason to get excited about the place. I think it's pretty decent and I visit it occasionally, but it does not come close in terms of flavor to the best gelatos I've had. I yearn for Capogiro in Philadelphia, which used to be sold locally at Bouffe in Lincoln Square, before Provenance took over and eliminated the product from the store.

I think they do a great job with texture, not as much with flavors. Either the flavors don't come out strong enough (often with fruits such as cherry and strawberry) or they're simply overpowering (Mexican chocolate comes to mind, with the cinnamon and chiles overpowering rather than accenting the chocolate flavor).

I've visited both black dog locations in the past couple of months, and I'd agree with BR about flavor but not texture. The flavors are novel but often fall flat. On Saturday, for instance, a malted vanilla was wonderful, but cherry chocolate chip was bland. An even bigger problem, and a consistent problem for them, is texture. None of the sort of elastic/stretchy/chewy texture of proper gelato, just creamy like ice cream.

Paciugo (at least the lincoln square one) is a bit better. Bellezza on Harlem, though, absolutely destroys all of the local competition I've tried. A mixture of novel and traditional flavors, and nearly all have perfect texture + great flavor.

gleam wrote:I've visited both black dog locations in the past couple of months, and I'd agree with BR about flavor but not texture. The flavors are novel but often fall flat. On Saturday, for instance, a malted vanilla was wonderful, but cherry chocolate chip was bland. An even bigger problem, and a consistent problem for them, is texture. None of the sort of elastic/stretchy/chewy texture of proper gelato, just creamy like ice cream.

Paciugo (at least the lincoln square one) is a bit better. Bellezza on Harlem, though, absolutely destroys all of the local competition I've tried. A mixture of novel and traditional flavors, and nearly all have perfect texture + great flavor.

I guess you're probably right in terms of elasticity, but at the same time I find it has the proper creaminess and always lacks ice crystals when I've purchased it at the store (and you usually find ice crystals in ice cream). Now I don't go there that often - because I'm not the biggest fan - so there may be textural issues I haven't encountered. As for Paciugo, I find that it's generally very good, with some great flavors, although I have encountered some duds. I guess I need to try Bellezza.

BR wrote:As for Paciugo, I find that it's generally very good, with some great flavors, although I have encountered some duds. I guess I need to try Bellezza.

Let me put it this way: my girlfriend lives 3 blocks from Paciugo in Lincoln Square, but we go to Bellezza (a 15 mile round trip) about 4x as often.

Greek yogurt sorbet has become one of my favorites from Black Dog. sounds kind of boring next to the more exciting flavor combinations, but it's perfectly tart, silky and just sweet enough. great stuff. good to combine with some of the fruit sorbets.

sarcon wrote:Greek yogurt sorbet has become one of my favorites from Black Dog. sounds kind of boring next to the more exciting flavor combinations, but it's perfectly tart, silky and just sweet enough. great stuff. good to combine with some of the fruit sorbets.

I love the Greek yogurt sorbet too! And sesame fig is a good one. I agree with gleam though that the cherry chocolate chip was not that great. I was there yesterday (Sunday) and was hoping for a Cherry Garcia-esque flavor, but not such luck. If the ice cream weren't pink I couldn't have guessed that it was cherry.

What's the difference between the greek yogurt sorbet and greek froyo?

gleam wrote:What's the difference between the greek yogurt sorbet and greek froyo?

dunno. the folks at Black Dog could probably tell you.

I like Black Dog for a couple of flavors that I find to be consistently very good: malted vanilla and salted peanut. I haven't had any fruit flavors that knocked my socks off, and I don't much care for the locally famous goat cheese caramel cashew.

I may have to try more of the offerings both at Black Dog and around town. But after a couple of recent trips to Mo (formerly La Cremeria) in NYC, nothing I've tried in this city (or anywhere) comes close.

If I have my druthers, I'll usually take my frozen dessert business to the Chocolate Shoppe on West Devon. It's an out-of-the-way trip and I've never left disappointed

gastro gnome wrote:I like Black Dog for a couple of flavors that I find to be consistently very good: malted vanilla and salted peanut. I haven't had any fruit flavors that knocked my socks off, and I don't much care for the locally famous goat cheese caramel cashew.

I may have to try more of the offerings both at Black Dog and around town. But after a couple of recent trips to Mo (formerly La Cremeria) in NYC, nothing I've tried in this city (or anywhere) comes close.

If I have my druthers, I'll usually take my frozen dessert business to the Chocolate Shoppe on West Devon. It's an out-of-the-way trip and I've never left disappointed

Amy's Candy Bar on Damen near Wilson carries a selection of Chocolate Shoppe flavors (in addition to pretty awesome handmade caramels) if that's any closer for you.

I go to Black Dog fairly regularly, at least during summer hours. I agree with gastro gnome on some of my favorite flavors: malted vanilla and salted peanut. Other flavors I swoon over are the olive oil almond, cherry lambic, nutella, sweet corn with lavender, blueberry french toast, cantaloupe sorbet and blood orange sorbet.

I've never favored for the goat cheese caramel cashew, sesame fig, or Mexican chocolate which they absolutely destroy with chiles. I went last Saturday and got a coffee/chocolate duo. Unfortunately I think they didn't clean out the machine after making Mexican chocolate because my (regular) chocolate was spicy, but less so than my friend's Mexican chocolate! The coffee flavor was also weaker than I've experienced in the past.

Hopefully Black Dog isn't overwhelmed with the new store to the point that the product suffers. I'll definitely return and am anticipating this was just a glitch.

spinynorman99 wrote:Amy's Candy Bar on Damen near Wilson carries a selection of Chocolate Shoppe flavors (in addition to pretty awesome handmade caramels) if that's any closer for you.

Thanks for the tip. There are a number of spots around the city that serve Chocolate Shoppe ice cream (http://www.chocolateshoppeicecream.com/mapjump), and some are more convenient. But for me, nothing beats the Devon Ave store for the number of flavors, breadth of products (ice cream, yogurt, more dipped cones than you can shake a stick at, low-sugar, no-sugar, and recently Italian ice), friendliness, and, not least, sheer number of ice cream samples that they give you without asking. I swear, if you stand there long enough making up your mind, they will feed you dinner.

Enough of a threadjack. I do like Black Dog for some things - as stated above.

Amy's Candy Bar on Damen near Wilson carries a selection of Chocolate Shoppe flavors (in addition to pretty awesome handmade aramels) if that's any closer for you.

Amy's does not carry homemade ice cream...just an FYI.

i like to get the salted peanut and the mexican chocolate in the same cup for an ice cream take on a reese's peanut butter cup on crack.

Interesting update from the Trib on summer happenings at Black Dog. Best wishes to Jessica Oloroso for her leave. I just hope Natalie Zarzour doesn't try to get me to pay $10-15 for a cup of gelato then chide me for not wanting to do so.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013 ... ca-oloroso

Smassey wrote:Interesting update from the Trib on summer happenings at Black Dog. Best wishes to Jessica Oloroso for her leave. I just hope Natalie Zarzour doesn't try to get me to pay $10-15 for a cup of gelato then chide me for not wanting to do so.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013 ... ca-oloroso

I will end my dessert sabbatical, 2+ years & counting, ASAP if Zarzour serves that cannolo. I've even thought about ending my sabbatical by trying to re-create it. It should be noted, that I never understood cannolo until I had Pasticceria Natalina's.

my favorite flavor, 3 floyds milk stout was at damen this past weekend; i bought 2 pints, since it never seems to last very long at black dog. so many of the flavors are too sweet for me, that the slightly bitter milk stout is a real find.