Frozen, Fruity, and Gluten Free

Soft serve fruit.

First time I saw this place on Third Avenue on the Upper East Side (FYI, there's also a store on the NW side of Union Square on 17th and one in the Hamptons), I wrote it off as some new hipster fad. I figured it was sorbet dressed up in skinny jeans and nerd glasses. Or, worse, yet another knock-off of Pinkberry.

Oh, how wrong I was.

I can't say enough about how amazing this product is: It's smooth, creamy, fruity--all without having a bit of dairy or gluten in it.

It's also cholesterol free, if the first two points didn't automatically make you orgasm.

You won't be bowled over with dozens of different flavor choices. They keep it pretty simple, having maybe four or five flavors to choose from on any given day. On my recent visits, the lineup has been banana, pear, mango, and blueberry. All delicious.

Likewise, the ingredient list is simple: fruit, water, and cane sugar. Period.

Side note: Looking at that ingredient lineup, the food analyst in me has a hunch that each flavor contains banana puree, even though the website (http://www.softservefruitco.com/) doesn't specifically say so. I say this not because the flavor of banana jumps out in every bite (in fact, it doesn't, unless you order "banana"). I surmise this simply because the consistency is so velvety.
And since the ingredient list is so short, and "fruit" is cryptically listed as the A-1 ingredient, what else but bananas would have a mouth feel akin to butter fat? Huh? Huh!?

(Not to mention their logo is soft serve poking out of a peeled banana "cone." So, there's that, too.)

Anyway, if you are feeling indulgent or a little gluttonous, you also can top your Soft Serve Fruit with anything from chocolate chips to hot fudge or real maple syrup.

Celiacs and fellow gluten allergy sufferers beware, though: Just because the Soft Serve Fruit itself is gluten free, add-ons like the crushed cookies and pretzels are not. (I've already written them, suggesting that they offer their completely indiscernible Glutino counterparts instead. We'll see what they say...)

UES Store
1371 Third Ave. (between 78th & 79th sts.)
New York, NY 10075
212.794.2200
http://www.softservefruitco.com