International Icy Treats In N.Y.C.
Summertime, and the living is as hot as can be. Thankfully, New York has been hit with an ice storm. Whether flaked or shaved, doused with Day-Glo syrup or something harder, these international treats prove that ice is nice no matter how you eat it:
Taiwan and Hawaii Please note this is a seasonal location. Cousins David Sat, Danny Che and Kenneth Sa are dishing out a multicultural ice blend. A Hawaiian shaver produces flaky layers of sweet milk, green tea or new milky-chocolate ice ($5 small, $7 large), which is then hit with ingredients such as sea-salt-leche syrup, mochi and kiwis (and brownie chunks for good measure). Wooly's Ice, South Street Seaport; 917-885-3919 or twitter.com/WoolysIce
New Orleans Please note this is a seasonal location. Super-fine slush is ground into Chinese takeout containers (small, $4; medium, $5; large, $7) and then drowned in homemade syrups for a New Orleans-style snowball. We're fond of wild strawberry striped with condensed milk ($1 extra), but let your inner toddler run amok with king cake and tutti-frutti flavors. Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls, 55 Ganesvoort St.; 251-366-7777 or iwsnoballs.com
Mexico Across from the tippy-top of Central Park, find the brand-new location of Cascabel Taqueria. Fresh fruit is the basis for mango, blueberry-pomelo, lime-vanilla-nutmeg and vanilla-ancho snow cones, which are upped with a sprinkling of hot sauce and a flush of Espolón Silver tequila ($4). Cascabel Taqueria, 2799 Broadway (at W. 108th St.); 212-665-1500 or nyctacos.com