One of the best Martinis I’ve had lately wasn’t served to me in a coupe – it came in a tiny paper cup and I ate it with a spoon. The Dirty Martini soft serve is just one of four drinks-inspired recipes at Unnecessary, a new ice cream parlour on New York’s Lower East Side. The shop is run by the team behind Double Chicken Please, a cocktail bar whose shock-and-awe cocktails (“Cold Pizza” and “Thai Curry”) regularly have guests queueing out the door.
Pizzeria Beddia’s soft serve with Amari © Michael Persico
It may sound like a gimmick, but Dirty Martini soft serve builds on a tried-and-tested dessert: vanilla ice cream with good olive oil and a few flakes of salt. Unnecessary adds Grey Goose vodka, dry vermouth, fennel and juniper, whips the whole thing into a silky-smooth peak and garnishes with a couple of green olives on a cocktail stick. The alcohol content is pretty negligible but the flavours hit hard. I loved it so much I went back and ordered the Campari and orange blossom Garibaldi.
“We wanted to create something that continues to showcase our approach to flavour but in an even more approachable way,” says Unnecessary co-founder Frank Zheng. “Something you can enjoy with your grandparents, your nephew, your best friend. Ice cream has a way of bringing people together. It always feels like a good time.”
