Enjoying summer food staples like lobster, ice cream, and fresh fruit in traditional ways is fine, but we recommend you kick it up a notch and approach summer food like a foodie.
Start your beyond-the-basics eating spree with unusual gazpacho options—cucumber and pineapple with elderflower yogurt; tomatillo, peppers, spinach, and basil; or sour cherry and beet with aged balsamic and cinnamon (all $12 a quart)—at Flourish Baking Company in Scarsdale. Flourish also offers made-to-order gazpacho “slush” (think fruit-and-veggie granita) in three flavors: lemon, cucumber, purslane, and apple with organic matcha tea; avocado, arugula, lime and cucumber with cilantro and ginger; and carrot, orange, and summer melon with lemon verbena ($8 for 12 ounces).
For sweeter cold-soup fare, try the peach blueberry soup from Stew Leonard’s in Yonkers. Sold in 30-oz containers for $6.99 (or 2 for $13), it’s made fresh every day by its in-house team of chefs, using fresh fruit blended with Stew’s own non-fat yogurt.
If you’re longing for a new way to eat lobster, head to Morgan’s Fish House in Rye, where you can try it in lobster paella (with clams, mussels, shrimp, scallop, chorizo, and rice) as the $19.95 Monday blue plate special; or paired with truffles (truffle lobster macaroni and cheese, $18). Or, for a foodie upgrade on fish tacos, try Tarrytown favorite RiverMarket Bar and Kitchen—their version uses grilled swordfish that is harpooned off of Montauk Point, and is topped with a salsa of grilled Hudson Valley peaches from Saunderskill Farms and Blooming Hill Farm heirloom tomatoes. The tortillas are made from Wild Hive Farm cornmeal.
For a twist on traditional ice cream, try RiverMarket’s take on the classic ice cream sandwich: Hudson Valley foie gras and strawberry swirl ice cream sandwiched between two crunchy peanut butter cookies. (The strawberries come from Blooming Hill Farm.) Or, head to any of the DeCicco Family Markets locations in Westchester to pick up a pint of Steve’s Ice Cream, a Brooklyn company that concocts unusual flavors like Mexican chili chocolate, mint cacao chip, and blackberry honey. DeCicco’s also stocks local ice cream favorites Ronnybrook Farm Dairy—try the ginger crème brûlée—and Adirondack Creamery, whose kulfi-pistachio cardamom caught our eye.
Joe DeCicco Jr. of DeCicco’s also recommends trying scamorza cheese this summer—think of it as fresh mozzarella’s exotic sibling. “We make it in-store from pulled cow’s milk curd. The process is just like mozzarella—except we tie it and air-dry it for a few days so it loses moisture and becomes firm. Then you can then cut it into chunks or slices,” he says. “It’s great for grilling.”
DeCicco Family Markets, various locations; www.deciccos.com
Flourish Baking Company, Scarsdale (914) 725-1026; www.flourishbakingcompany.com
Morgan’s Fish House, Rye (914) 921-8190 www.morgansfishhouse.net
RiverMarket Bar and Kitchen, Tarrytown (914) 631-3100; www.rivermarketbarandkitchen.com
Stew Leonard’s, Yonkers (914) 375-4700 www.stewleonards.com