Innovative flavors abound at Harlem-based Sugar Hill Creamery

Upper West Side NY

15 February, 2022

2:39 PM

Description

Columbia Daily Spectator BY JAMAL BAIG AND NICHI PANDEY FEBRUARY 15, 2022, 12:38 PM to an ice cream shop near campus that boasts a smorgasbord of ever-changing, inventive flavors—Sugar Hill Creamery. Walk up three small steps under a warm navy blue awning and enter one of the most sacchariferous establishments in town. Opened in 2017 by the husband-wife duo of Nick Larsen and Petrushka Bazin Larsen, Sugar Hill Creamery instantly became a neighborhood icon, running out of ice cream during their grand opening. Longtime Harlem dwellers themselves, the Larsens decided to create a small business in service to their beloved neighborhood. The creamery prides itself on local collaborations, and Bazin Larsen's work with Harlem nonprofits has given her the platform and experience to connect deeply with community residents. Her husband Larsen's wealth of experience in New York City's fine dining scene also complements Bazin Larsen's work, and has allowed him to cherish fresh ingredients and imbue the space with a sense of refined grace. Together, their Caribbean and Midwestern roots provide inspiration for special flavor concoctions. Arriving at the shop is like visiting home. Cheerful servers greet customers browsing the menu and dipping case in what feels like a cozy family room, designed by Co-Office, an architecture and design firm local to Harlem. Plain wooden tables sit among gorgeous paintings of Harlem residents—portraits of the neighborhood's diverse faces—by Ecuadorian artist Raúl Ayala. Menu items include scoops of the shop's signature handmade, small-batch ice cream along with other confections like brownie sundaes, milkshakes, and ice cream sandwiches. Sugar Hill Creamery also offers steaming cups of a Nicaraguan and Guatemalan coffee blend by Brooklyn-based Gotham Coffee Roasters. Sugar Hill rotates seasonal flavors daily, making it impossible to try everything unless you order all the flavors they have in-house that day. Luckily, we did just that. Starting with the cream cheese-based flavors, moving to fruit flavors, and ending with chocolates, our tasting order aimed to minimize the traces of one flavor carrying into the next. We do not recommend tasting chocolate before fruit as the sweet bitterness of the chocolate will turn the fruit flavor sour. 12 Flavor Reviews at Sugar Hill Creamery 1. Andy Griffith For lovers of vanilla ice cream, try the Andy Griffith, a flavor that claims to be "better than Häagen-Dazs." As the menu states, "Nothing is more vanilla than Andy Griffith"—this impossibly decadent flavor features vanilla sourced from Réunion Island. For fans of local dairy, the shop assures that the milk and cream is supplied from a local farm upstate. 2. Chairperson of the Board One of Sugar Hill's bestsellers, this flavor is better than blueberry cheesecake itself. With a cream cheese base, blueberry jam, and graham crackers folded in, this layered ice cream is sure to satisfy savory and sweet cravings—perfect if you have ever dreamed of enjoying your cheesecake whipped and cold. 3. What's Up, Doc? As South Asian food writers, we loved this flavor because it made us nostalgic for a delicacy from back home: gajar ka halwa, a dessert made from slowly cooking grated carrots, milk, butter, sugar, and cardamom. Most people who try this flavor, however, will immediately taste classically rich carrot cake, complete with fluffy cream cheese frosting and hints of ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. This flavor will also soon be available as an ice cream cake. 4. Family Business Bits of rum cake, a Caribbean specialty, star in this flavor. The rum is sourced from Harlem Haberdashery, a local, family-run business, and the cake itself stands out with notes of citrus with strawberry jam folded in for a colorful twist. This flavor is a perfect representation of Harlem—two family businesses coming together to create something entirely new and uniquely Harlem. 5. Don Cartagena Don Cartagena pays homage to guava season, which runs from February to March. This flavor was born from the Cuban guayaba y queso breakfast pastry. When the first spoonful hits your tongue, expect a refreshing burst of guava soon met with Sugar Hill's signature cream cheese base. Bits of croissant are mixed in for texture and the occasional buttery bite. 6. Nunu's Peach Cobbler Summer and autumn are married together in this flavor. As your first mouthful begins to melt, you will first taste cinnamon, then some cobbler crust, and finally fresh peach purée. Surprisingly, many pieces of cobbler crust remained crisp, unleashing a party of brown sugar and butter in lucky bites. 7. Yellow Diamond Ring (V) This flavor expands the boundaries of what pineapple can taste like. Berbere-infused caramel is at the core of this "water-based" delicacy. Berbere––an Ethiopian spice blend of chilies, garlic, coriander, and other warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, traditionally used for stews and curries––makes an unexpected appearance to balance yet intensify the sweet and sour flavor of the pineapple. 8. Nutcracker Named after the eponymous cocktail dreamed up in New York City, this flavor is a charming vodka fantasy. The sorbet has a swirl of colors from flavors including fruit punch, grape, and pineapple. Melded together, the elements of this flavor will transport you to a Harlem cookout where nutcrackers are a staple to quench thirst on a glorious midsummer day. 9. The Darkest Timeline The Darkest Timeline, a black licorice-infused vanilla ice cream, reminded us of Sambuca, a digestif typically enjoyed at the end of a meal in Europe. In South Asia, instead of drinking digestifs, we chew straight fennel seeds after meals, and this black licorice-flavored treat included hints of both fennel and anise. Our only warning: Don't smile for a photo after you indulge in this deep, dark flavor. 10. Harlem Sweeties Harlem Sweeties is named after Langston Hughes' poem of the same name. He writes, "caramel, brown sugar, a chocolate treat," and that's exactly what this shop has created. The caramel base is light on the tongue, while the chewy brownie bits add some variety. The saltiness from the caramel also balances out the butterscotch. 11. A$AP Rocky Road A$AP Rocky Road is a one-stop milk-chocolatey delight, reminiscent of Cadbury's Bubbly milk chocolate bars. Although this flavor was quite dense, the bits of hazelnut, marshmallow fluff, graham cracker, and Oreos added some much-needed texture to the otherwise very smooth ice cream. 12. Sweet Socialism (V) Sugar Hill made this sorbet so velvety we thought that it was an ice cream at first. But this sorbet is perfect for fans of dark chocolate who enjoy the light roasted sweetness of Lindt 78 percent cocoa without the intense bitterness of 85 percent cocoa. Our recommendation is to purchase an affogato, adding a shot of espresso to a scoop of Sweet Socialism for a chocolatey afternoon pick-me-up. The next time we go to Sugar Hill Creamery, we will be sure to order Harlem Sweeties and A$AP Rocky Road, our two favorite flavors. We hope that you too can, as Langston Hughes says, "Stroll down luscious, / Delicious, fine Sugar Hill." Staff writer Nichi Pandey can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec. Staff writer Jamal Baig can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.