The Pepper Mill

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...Gelato?

Benito's is serving up authentic gelato made in the centuries-old Italian tradition.

On a hot summer day, nothing appeals quite like a soothing ice cream treat. But ice cream can be heavy, leave a coating on your tongue, and consume us with guilt. Italians—not ones to be guilty about food—developed a creamy dessert treat with 80 percent less fat than ice cream: gelato. Benito's Gelato, located at 1760 Clarkson Rd. in Dierbergs Market Center, has a reputation for serving up some of the finest gelato in St. Louis. No wonder. The artisan gelato is based on a family recipe fine-tuned by co-owner Judy Bellos. They use 100 percent natural ingredients, such as fruits, nuts, spices, liqueurs, imported chocolates and coffees. The creaminess is courtesy of Benito's imported Italian gelato machines, which freeze the product slowly. …

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Food Fight!

Slow and Steady Wins the Turtle Sundae Race

In this week's "Food Fight!" we compare turtle sundaes from three ice cream shops.

The turtle sundae is the perfect combination of demure vanilla ice cream, rich and luscious chocolate, and sweet caramel. Topped with whipped cream, pecans and a marachino cherry it is hard to go wrong with this treat, but we have a winner in our midst. Eugene's Custard: 1138 Town & Country Crossing Dr., Town and Country Eugene's has generous portion sizes, and the presentation was impressive, with a little flair and a swirl of whipped cream. The pecans were especially flavorful—toasted, smoky, ever so slightly salted. The ice cream had a rich, custard flavor and the chocolate and caramel tasted real, not artificially flavored. The amount of ice cream was of greater proportion to the toppings, though the quality was top notch. The good: …

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The Pepper Mill

Lancia's Frozen Yogurt Gets Warm Reception

Open for only three months, John Lancia's business is growing fast.

The seed from which Lancia's Frozen Yogurt sprouted had been planted far away in Sicily, Italy. As a student at Loyola University's Rome Center, John Lancia would often travel to Sicily, sit in the town square with his cousins and sample the gelato and espresso. His dream wasn't of living in the Italian countryside or swimming in the impossible blue of the Mediterranean, but of opening a coffee shop back in Chesterfield where he was born. Lancia didn't stick entirely to his original coffee shop dream. Although he does offer espresso, cappuccino and coffee, his focus is on fat-free, frozen yogurt. The change in direction was—in his view—a sound business decision. He read an article in Restaurant Business magazine that listed the top 50 …

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The Pepper Mill

Oberweis Dairy Serves Up Ice Cream and Delivers Milk To Your Home

Ice cream is the perfect treat, but milk delivery takes the ice cream cake.

As the weather turned warm this week, my thoughts turned to ice cream and I quickly focused on the Oberweis Dairy store on Chesterfield Airport Road as the place to get my ice cream fix. But the path I took to get there wound through my childhood and memories of the milkman leaving glass bottles of milk on my parents' doorstep. Surprisingly, Oberweis Dairy still delivers milk just like the old days: in glass returnable bottles placed right on your front porch. They've been doing it since 1927. Home milk delivery is convenient, but is it better milk? Probably, for several reasons. According to their website, Oberweis milk comes from individual small dairies contracted especially to produce milk for Oberweis. It's not uncommon for the milk …

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Great Escape: Take Time for Guilty Pleasures

Queue up your favorite soap opera on the the digital video recorder, grab some sinful sweets and veg out for a late-night escape.

As one stereotype goes, a mom is a bonbon-eating woman watching afternoon soap operas while her children are napping or off at school. Any mom—stay-at-home or working—will say that motherhood rarely equates with daily leisure. Crowded calendars will make any mother long for a box of Godiva chocolates and an hour of General Hospital. This week, embrace the stereotype for a sweet escape of self-indulgent down time. Key up the digital video recorder to your favorite guilty pleasure such as Jersey Shore and plop onto the couch with a box of chocolates, or doughnuts, or ice cream. Here are a few local sweet shops that specialize in indulgence: Whipt Cream: Nothing goes better with bad television than a great cupcake, and Whipt Cream bakes the …

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