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Business & Tech

I is for Ice Cream and Ice Cream Soda

Three Twins and Double Rainbow top the list of ice cream shops.

When it comes to ice cream we’re lucky. There are at least 10 stores dedicated to serving either ice cream or frozen yogurt, throughout greater San Rafael. And just about every restaurant fancy or simple, large or small, has ice cream on the dessert menu.

If I'm in impulse mode and crave a quick fix of ice cream, however, my jones for natural and/or organic propels me to one of two places: Three Twins, in the Del Ganado shopping center in Terra Linda, and Double Rainbow on Fourth Street.

, now 5 and a half years old, is the brainchild of Neal Gottlieb, a 34-year-old entrepreneur who debuted this little store in August 2007. He has since expanded to two more —a Three Twins in Napa’s Oxbow Market and one in San Francisco’s lower Haight. His year-old factory in Petaluma now churns out hundreds of pints a week, while more than 40 different Bay Area restaurants serve the brand.

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 What I love about Three Twins is that the ice creams are certified organic, tend to be lower in sugar than most commercial brands and pack a wallop of flavor. At the top of my hit list: Je Ne Sais Quoi Strawberry, paler pink than bridal rose petals yet popping with berry character thanks to a blast of balsamic vinegar in every batch. 

Green tea is the real deal, naturally deep green and smoky in finish thanks to extra doses of imported Matcha powdered tea from Japan.

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All the ice creams are certified organic and can be had in house-made waffle cones, including a mini two-ounce size, as well as pre-packed tubs.

 I’m also a fan of , on Fourth Street in San Rafael. Here, flavors include a refreshing mango/tangerine sorbet, perfect for cleansing the palate after an Asian meal at one of the nearby restaurants. I love it when the store carries lychee ice cream and the current special of musky black walnut. But one of the most evocative concoctions here is an old-fashioned ice cream soda, made with syrup, soda water, and two scoops of your favorite flavor. Try the strawberry, with the hefty fruit-flecked scoops hanging off the top of the conical glass dish, plus a whirl of whipped cream on top. This is the type of indulgence that 1950s’ comic book hero Archie would have wooed Veronica with, while Jughead looked on.  

Contact Leslie Harlib at lharlib@pacbell.net

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