Ice creams & gelati

In Russia, even in the depths of winter, queues of people form around the ice-cream carts stationed on street corners and down the iced-over paths of Moscow's Gorki Park. Russians are passionate about 'marozhnaya'. In the old Soviet days, flavors ran to three: a vanilla, a chocolate and a berry ice-cream - and not always that many.

Ice-cream from the following suppliers comes much lauded by ice-cream fanatics:

Dolcezza, 1560 Wisconsin Ave NW, 202 333 4646, makes some of the best around - really pure flavors including a proper Pistacchio made from nuts imported from Bronte in Italy. www.dolcezzagelato.com. Now you can catch them at farmers' markets around town - Penn Quarter on Wednesdays, Dupont Circle on Sundays, and possibly others. Your mom won't mind you eating this stuff in the street...

Larry's Cookies and New York Ice, 1633 Connecticut Ave NW, 202 234 2690, makes some weird and wonderful flavors. Halva, anyone? It's teeth-sticking good.

Larry's Cookies and Ice, 800 K St NW, 202 408 1827

Max's Best Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop, 2416 Wisconsin Ave NW, 202 333 3111

Thomas Sweet Ice Cream , 2314 P St NW, 202 337 0616, makes probably the best Belgian chocolate flavor in town.

Le Sorbet, 1776 G St NW, 202 789 1313

Cone E Island, 2000 Pennsylvania Ave NW, 202 822 8460

Cafe Cafe, 2816 Pennsylvania Ave NW, 202 338 6778

Scoops, 1309 Arizona Ave NE, 202 832 2832

Swedish Pastry Shop, 5409 Georgia Ave NW, 202 723 3191

Sam's Cafe and Delicatessen is a Persian grocery store and cafe in the Ritchie Center on Rockville Pike. It makes nearly two dozen ultra-smooth gelati in a rota of changing flavors. Persian vanilla is flavored with rosewater and saffron. Other flavors include an exceptional lemon, rich chocolate (not deep in flavor), chocolate hazelnut (good but not strong on hazelnut), zabaglione, strawberry, French vanilla, fig...and ice cream fit for diabetics.

Magruder's on Connecticut Avenue by the Cleveland Park Metro Station now sells a range of gelati it makes in the back from bases that come from Italy. The fruit ones are especially good.

Aromi d'Italia, at 10300 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia, 410 715 0674 makes an enormous range of gelati.

Top off a Latin American or Caribbean meal with a scoop of wild, very creamy, almost gelato-like ice cream from York Castle Tropical Ice Cream, 9324 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, 301 589 1616, in flavors like Soursop, Lychee, and Papaya, as well as the more usual Peppermint Stick, French Almond, Chocolate Chip and more. Really worth the trip are Guinness (no, it's not bitter) and Grapenut (yes, the Post breakfast cereal), which they say is Jamaica's national ice cream!

If you can eat it in commercial quantities, ice cream maestro David Weiner will conjure you up your own personal flavor - if you are prepared to order enough of it. Owner of Daval's Food Distributors in College Park, 301 345 7300, he can help you concoct a signature taste.

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