What Is and What Never Should Be

There’s a new place here in NYC that uses liquid nitrogen to instantly make you your own bespoke ice cream—you choose ingredients from a list that offers more than 10,000 combinations, according to Serious Eats. They do it via some scientific theatrics:

The ice cream base, along with spices, herbs, fruit, and anything you’ve selected, are poured into a pink Kitchenaid. Then they pour in the liquid nitrogen, a foggy mass, and in barely thirty seconds, ta-dah!

This seems like the foodie version of those places that ring a bell or play crazy music if you order “The Trough” or some other item that’s more about bragging than flavor, but it is not the most annoying thing about Lulu & Mooky’s liquid nitrogen ice cream—which, according to most Yelp reviewers and the Serious Eats writer, is not that good.

Here’s what gets me: one of the flavor options is “salt/garlic.” SALT GARLIC ICE CREAM. That is just… gratuitous. You might as well make ramp sorbet and put a “kick me” sign on your back.

—Snacktime