One Scoop or Two?

One Scoop or Two?

By Linda Laban, Globe Correspondent

          Whether it's two scoops at casual ice cream parlors or sophisticated sundaes in well-heeled restaurants, summer is the time to try new cold comfort food. From exotic sorbets to unusual coffee floats, here's a roundup of the latest:

          The thing about ice cream is that it's supposed to be fun. Fun Food Snackery (141 Brighton Ave., Allston. 617-787-8989), which opened in June, understands this. The interior is painted bright canary yellow, and soon it will add a fun wheel for anyone who can't decide what to order.

          That's probably a good idea given the numerous combinations of Christina's excellent ice creams, flavored syrups, fresh fruits, and dry toppings. Mix and match those ingredients for tailor-made Hawaiian shaved ices, mini sundaes, and "summer snows," as well as several fresh fruit smoothies -- from yogurt-based blueberry-orange to delicately sweetened (and surprisingly yummy) avocado ($4.29). All of which can be taken out or slurped at the small bar.

           For maximum cool down, the shaved ice and summer snow can't be beat. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but with all that shaved ice and not as much ice cream, they seem like lower-calorie, lower-fat indulgences. And they're served in cute, candy-colored flower cups that you can keep.

          The Hawaiian ice, available with or without your choice of ice cream at the bottom ($2.86/$3.81), is a mound of fluffy shaved ice that's drizzled with condensed milk and striped with flavored syrup -- anything from bubblegum to banana. The crimson Tiger's Blood syrup turned out to be a delicious mix of strawberry, pineapple, and coconut. The summer snow ($4.52-$5), however, is Fun Food Snackery's hope for fame: Shaved ice is combined with fresh fruit and a swish of sauce and finished with a scoop of ice cream or sorbet.

          Oddly, until this summer, the dessert haven Finale kept its gelati and sorbets as merely accompaniments to its elegant dessert plates (1 Columbus Ave., Boston. 617-423-3184. 30 Dunster St., Cambridge. 617-441-9797. 1306 Beacon St., Brookline. 617-232-3233. finaledesserts.com).

Now you can order an entire bowl of ice cream; the gelati and sorbets assortment ($8.95) includes a choice of three scoops of the housemade cold treats beautifully presented in a sturdy pecan caramel tuille (not for the slack-jawed, it's thick and very hard), with fresh berries and swirls of strawberry sauce and crème Anglaise. We chose a rich Valrhona dark chocolate gelato and tangy pineapple and mango sorbets, but we decided the heavy chocolate overpowered the flavorful strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries.

          What with its focus on fresh fish, it might come as a surprise that Legal Sea Foods makes all of its ice creams at its headquarters along Boston Harbor. Pastry chef Dave Topian concocts everything from coconut sorbet to crystallized ginger to a signature Kona coffee ice cream created with mellow Hawaiian coffee beans. The Boston chain just added "Rick Heller's Mud Pie" ($6.95), named for Legal's senior vice president who's a big fan of mud pie. Topian's version includes an Oreo cookie chocolate crumb crust topped with roasted macadamia nuts and the creamy Kona coffee ice cream, which adds the perfect bitter aftertaste to the rich ingredients.

          At Stone Hearth Pizza (57 Leonard St., Belmont. 617-484-1700; 974 Great Plain Ave., Needham. 781-433-0600; 519-A Boston Post Road, Sudbury. 978-443-5550. stonehearth pizza.com), dessert and after-dinner coffee come combined in the new espresso float ($5). It includes two big scoops of gelato -- flavors include hazelnut, peanut butter cup, mint Oreo, coconut, and more -- topped with a shot of warm espresso. It's served in an old-fashioned sundae glass and is available at all three of their locations (including the new Needham store's walk-up gelato counter).

          For some extreme ice cream, pop into the Metropolitan Club (1210 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill. 617-731-0600. metclubandbar.com). Pastry chef Michelle Pattinson often includes such exotic flavors as calamansi and soursop (more attractively known as guanabana) among her daily changing selection of sorbets and ice creams. The menu is a lesson in contrasts: Asian calamansi has a sharp sweetness reminiscent of a tangerine crossed with a kumquat, and tropical-grown soursop has pineapple and strawberry flavors but with a citrus kick. The "bowl of ice cream" ($7) offers three scoops served with melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies.

          At Rialto (Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett St., Cambridge. 617-661-5050. rialto-restau

ant .com), rosemary gelato accompanies the lemon pine nut olive oil cake; lemon buttermilk sherbet is paired with a mascarpone cream tart; and mousse-like espresso and orange semifreddos accompany sliced orange exquisitely spiced with cardamom (all $9).

          During July, for the Sunday prix fixe menu ($40), which highlights dishes from the Veneto region, pastry chef Susan Abbott has deconstructed the classic Italian tiramisu to create a sophisticated plate dubbed the "sundae pick-me-up" -- tiramisu translates as "pick me up."

          This delicate, lighter play on tiramisu includes ladyfingers sandwiched with mascarpone that has a hint of grappa, and Marsalis-flavored gelato topped with shaved bitter chocolate that's ready to be soaked in the accompanying shot of espresso. Now that's a pick-me-up.