7 Places to Cool Off With a Chill Treat

Summer is too short not to eat ice cream, gelato and other refreshing desserts.

This outpost of the Washington-based gelateria rounds out the after-dinner offerings in Mosaic District, where the Dolcezza team also runs a standalone coffee-focused café, Mom & Pop. Local ingredients from nearby farms determine the shop’s seasonal flavors — think “peaches & cream” gelato and “white peach prosecco” sorbetto this time of year.

The gelato batches are made daily at the brand’s Gelato Factory & Coffee Lab in the District’s Union Market neighborhood before being delivered to several farmers markets and five shops in the region, including the sparkling, marble-countered Mosaic location.

- Advertisement -

Dolcezza co-founders Duncan and Violeta Edelman pride themselves on their small-batch “soft serve” gelato, which, they promise, tastes even better if you let it start to melt. Stumptown Coffee Roasters’ beans provide a basis for excellent coffee-based drinks at each location as well, making it one of the best places to try an affogato: espresso poured over a cold scoop of your favorite flavor.

2905 District Avenue, Fairfax; dolcezzagelato.com

La Moo Creamery

The scoopers at this strip shop do more than mix the ice cream in front of you to bring the “handcrafted ice cream experience found on the streets of Thailand” to Arlington. With the help of 16-degree metal plates that cause the liquid to evaporate from a mixture of whole milk, heavy cream and sugar, they transform it into ice cream as you order. The result, in flavors such as “moo cream” (vanilla) and “Thai tea,” is rolled into a tortilla-like shape and piled high with toppings. Consider their suggested concoctions: sea salt, bacon bites, twix and maple syrup come together in an option called “oink oink,” and raisins, granola and caramel make up the “rum-o-way” blend.

2501-B North Harrison St., Arlington; lamoocreamery.com

7 Places to Cool Off With a Chill Treat

Our Digital Partners