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Screme Gelato Bar

Location
176 West 94th Street
Neighborhoods
Screme Gelato Bar 1 Gelato Upper West Side

My husband and I were constant visitors to Screme when they had a location near Lincoln Center. We were terribly disappointed when they had to close, but I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered them on 94th Street. We visited Screme in the middle of Passover, when the kosher ice scream shop had changed its flavors in honor of the holiday. There were two charoset flavors, maple matzo, and a special butter cookie ice cream that was made with potato flour instead of wheat. I stood there, with the Manhattan Sideways team, sampling flavor after flavor - including chocolate orange, coconut, figs and tequila, and almond cream - trying to decide which one to order in a cup. A very difficult decision, as each was outstanding.

Zohan Sasson, the personable and enthusiastic owner, began making gelato in Israel, and then moved to New York in 2010. Everything at this tiny ice cream bar - that is only open in the warmer months - is homemade, with recipes carefully crafted by Screme. “It’s all natural ingredients, something you don’t find in America,” Zohan stated. There are no eggs in his recipes and it is made with whole milk rather than heavy cream. The only downside to Screme's gelato is that because it is made with only fresh ingredients, the ice cream expires quickly, but to Zohan this enables him to rotate the flavor selection frequently. “We usually have even more amazing flavors,” Zohan said proudly, but because of the holiday, he had a few less. I, however, can attest to the variety of choices, as my family always loved the cereal choices, the mojito, anything chocolate and the fresh fruit sorbets, that included strawberry, cantaloupe, blueberries and pineapple.

“Our motto is quality,” Zohan insisted, and then declared, “We’re the Rolls Royce of gelato."

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Screme Gelato Bar 1 Gelato Upper West Side
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Screme Gelato Bar 3 Gelato Upper West Side
Screme Gelato Bar 4 Gelato Upper West Side
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Screme Gelato Bar 9 Gelato Upper West Side

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George Glazer Gallery 1 Art and Photography Galleries Antiques undefined

George Glazer Gallery

Despite its limited size, one could spend an entire day in George Glazer Gallery and probably still not see everything that the space has to offer. There are fascinating items covering every nook and cranny, from the ceiling to the staircase to the bathroom. Though there are many pieces, as George says, it is “exciting clutter” rather than overwhelming clutter, and a true treasure hunt to look through. I kept finding surprises, such as a column made from the inside of a piano, a set of miniature fire tools, and strings of scorekeeping devices for games of pool dangling high above my head. After years as a corporate attorney, George embraced his love of collecting art and opened his gallery in 1993. He began on the corner of Madison Avenue and 72nd Street, on an upper floor, but recently moved north due to rising rents. As he pointed out, however, the internet has made it so that it is no longer as important to have a prestigious address. According to George, having a well-maintained website and good social media skills is far more crucial to running a successful antique business. He also assured me that he has a strong international client base that reaches out to him online. Even though he has moved away from Madison Avenue, George is very happy to have found his current side street location. He loves the ceilings, which remind him of the original definition of “gallery, ” a room in an English country house with tall ceilings. There is a garden out back that George occasionally uses for storage and events. The biggest change he has encountered, however, is foot traffic. Now that he is on the ground floor, he has more people coming by to stare in the window and occasionally wander in. Though many pieces originate from outside the United States, such as a long Tibetan instrument mounted on the wall and the Venetian glass sconces made in the shape of clowns, most of the items in the gallery were purchased in the States. “There’s a remarkable amount of stuff here already, ” George commented. He not only collects pieces: George is also somewhat of an artist in his own right in the way that he arranges things, along with his gallery manager, Jeffrey. For example, I saw an old employee time card grid covered in various antique ornaments. The result was a visually fascinating display. “We make our own little art, ” George said with a smile, gesturing to a figure of Humpty Dumpty sitting on a bed of coral above the doorway. George’s passion is definitely globes. He has a vast collection, spanning from a rare celestial globe to an enormous thirty-six inch specimen. More generally, George’s taste leans towards items that have a practical or scientific purpose. He also collects judges’ gavels and has a fair number of door knockers. After observing as much as I could upfront, we proceeded to the back of the shop where George puts pieces that he is particularly fond of close to his desk so that he can appreciate them most of the day. My eye went right to a wooden satyr face and an odd madmen-esque desk sign that reads “MISS PARR. ”After showing me the back room where he occasionally fixes things, and telling me about a few prop-rental projects he has taken part in, George became introspective. “This place is an alter ego, ” he admitted. “It’s for sale, but it’s what I like. ” He continued on to say that his very specific style is not for everyone, but at the same time, he is confident that his often minimalist, modern antiques can fit into a wide variety of design schemes. His gallery is purposefully set up so that customers can see how things might look in a lived-in space. “It’s more like a place where people live. ” That is, if the people living there are slightly eccentric. “We have a lot of odd things, ” George confessed laughing.