Grom & Robyn

While New Yorkers may not be sure whether to serve their tap water in a carafe or not,

we are VERY happy to have a new real Italian gelato shop from Turin.

No question about it!

GROM is a wonderful addition to a town lacking good ice cream.

Yesterday I met up with food blogger, Robyn Lee, The Girl Who ate Everything at the 2165 Broadway Upper West Side shop.
 

The flavor chart is thoughtfully placed outside to aid your decision making process.
They even have monthly flavors!

You can taste as many flavors as you like at Grom,

but anticipation, stress and angst will make you choose quickly.

The torture of watching the dipping.

Wondering if you got the right flavor.

This is very Italian to stick the cone on top, so you can eat it either way..

And the cone was definitely from Italy - crispy and light.

What is it about gelato spoons?

I save every single gelato spoon I come across.

There's always a few lurking in the bottom of my purse just in case.

Don't ask me why?...just in case.

WARNING! Very large picture of rich creamy gelato.

Robyn got Cinnamon and Pistachio.

Mine was Cinnamon and Hazelnut.

Real Italian Pistachio is NEVER green, but rather the color of dirty old duffle coats.

Notice Robyn has drapped a bib around her gelato to catch the drips.
Mine never had much chance to drip.

You can tell Robyn is a serious eater.

She's actually tasting the gelato...

Mine disappeared mysteriously almost instantly. 

Is this little girl thinking, Why didn't I get chocolate..?
Is this dog asking, Where's mine..?

Did I say this was my 4th visit and the 1st time I did not get Pistachio...

WELCOME to New York GROM!

Cuisinophilie, Blue Milk Jug

Cuisinophilie, original watercolor, 9" x 12"

I found my blue milk jug in a closet-size shop next to Mariage Freres.

This pot à lait was in the window waiting for me.

If you inhaled in your rush to get tea at Mariage Freres,you'd completely miss this charming shop.

Cuisinophilie is at 25, rue Bourg Tibourg.

Anne Siquier specializes in antique kitchenware and especially BLUE kitchenware.

Here's a lovely blue and white vieux moulins a café/coffee grinder. Lots of blue in this picture too!Cuisinophilie est ferme le dimanche et le lundi, mais aussi parfois à l’improviste.

(Cuisinophilie is closed on Sundays and Mondays but also sometimes when they feel like it..)

Be sure to look in when you go to tea at Mariages Freres

Barbara Bleu.

Jean-Paul Hévin Cadeau, watercolor on paper, 9" x 11 1/2"

I bought this cobalt blue pitcher after I had lunch with Barbara.

I first met Barbara Marcinkowska by chance. We shared a couchette from Venice to Paris in 2005. She not only paints (always in blue) but is an accomplished cellist and music festival organiser.

I thought Barbara's favorite color was rose till I had lunch at her Ile Saint-Louis studio last trip. Everything was blue, blue, blue!

Rugs, tapestries, necklaces, dishes, towels..you name it, all was BLEU!

Barbara, first came to Paris to study the cello. Now svphe judges competitions, writes, teaches master classes and performs. AND she paints too!
As I left Barbara's studio I spotted this cobalt glass in an antique shop next door. Did they know that Barbara loves blue too?

You can see more blue at the FIT show, Color in Fashion.

Blue has become the most popular color. "Blue bloods", "blue collar" workers, the "Blues"... Certainly blue is favored by Americans - blue jeans, blue blazers.
Michel Pastoureau, in this book covers the iconography, symbolism, sociology, the economic aspects of weaving, dyeing, and other aspects of the color bleu.