Scoops' out for Summer: Day 31

We made it! 31 ice creams in 31 days. A big thanks to all the WW writers who offered their stomachs up to the higher calling of dessert journalism, everyone who suggested ice cream vendors to try, to the scoop slingers of Portland who kept us well nourished on our travels, and to you, dear reader, for joining us. Look out for more in Wednesday's print edition.

Lovely's Fifty-Fifty
4039 N. Mississippi St., Suite 101, 281-4060, lovelysfiftyfifty.com.

Price per scoop: $3.50
Most popular flavor: Salted caramel.
The people in front of me: A totally nondescript, thirtysomething Portland couple.
Best for: A family night out; a classy first date.

As we near the end of this month-long voyage into all things drippy and sticky sweet, I have a confession to make: I don't know jack shit about ice cream. There's a very good reason why, in my four years associated with Willamette Week—in which time I have contributed in some form to just about every section of the paper—I've avoided writing extensively about food: I have the palate of an eight-year-old. Which you'd think would be perfect for this particular assignment, but all it means is I'm subjecting some poor ice cream artisans to my completely arbitrary, uneducated analysis. All I know is if something tastes good. And to me, ice cream warrants the same aphorism applied to pizza: Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good.

So I guess it makes sense that Lovely's Fifty-Fifty's two primary concerns happen to be pizza and ice cream. How could it go wrong? 

It doesn't. And yes, I know I just spent a whole paragraph telling you that I'm the absolute last person you should trust to recommend good ice cream. But goddamn, this is some good ice cream. 

Although its salted caramel doesn't quite measure up Salt & Straw's (sorry, Martin), the seasonal fruit flavors are tremendous. The wild ginger loganberry and raspberry rose sorbet are standouts, but the absolute destroyer is the apricot. Holy crap. Combined with a pizza topped with Italian sausage, braised greens and chard? That's a pretty awesome dinner and dessert combo for a balmy summer night.

Then again, what the hell do I know?   

WWeek 2015