Ice Cream Couture

I don’t claim ice cream as a singular experience, a California experience, or even an American experience. Though childhood summers spent with my Aunt Liz in Brentwood had me convinced that the hot fudge sundae at Will Wright’s on Santa Monica Boulevard was the alpha and omega of frozen desserts, I’ve come to realize that ice cream has a diversity of expression that is perhaps unmatched by any other food, from the icy granitas sold by East L.A. street vendors to the sweet mochi rice-paste balls found in Little Tokyo bakeries to the design-your-own funky flavors at Cold Stone Creamery in Glendale. Yet one thing remains universal: the pleasing power of ice cream.

While the carousel tunes of an ice-cream truck still send me happily running for my wallet, I find that on the occasions when I have to behave like an adult my favorite childhood indulgence has not forsaken me. Pastry chefs, after all, were kids once, too, so it comes as no surprise that some of L.A.’s most sophisticated dessert menus feature ice cream--albeit in grown-up incarnations.

Playing on a perenniel favorite, Donald Wressell’s “Non-Classical Banana Split” at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles arrives as an architectural masterpiece of chocolate spirals erupting from layers of homemade vanilla bean, strawberry and chocolate ice cream and caramelized banana slices. This is where ice cream hits its zenith as Wressell meticulously selects the ripest, reddest berries for his texture-perfect strawberry sorbet.

I have never been able to turn down profiteroles, and Darcy Tizio’s version at Michael’s in Santa Monica proves no exception. Here the miniature pastry puffs are filled with banana ice cream and slathered in rich chocolate sauce. Although the portions are generous, the idea of two spoons for this dessert is unthinkable.

At Cayo in Pasadena, the orange-passion fruit granita is a refreshing summer favorite. Depending on what catches her eye at the market, Merilee Atkinson fuses either Valencia or blood oranges with passion fruit for her snowy-soft sorbet, which is served in a hollowed-out orange atop a pool of creme anglaise and crowned with a crunchy rosette of orange-blossom meringue.

“I think of it as an ultra-deluxe 50-50 bar,” says Atkinson. And, indeed, as the sorbet melts down onto the vanilla creme anglaise, nostalgic mixes of sweet and tart, crunchy and icy recall the simple satisfaction of the old-time classic--but with a graceful twist.

Perhaps the most innovative of haute ice creams can be found downtown at Water Grill. Wonyee Tom crowns her chilled honeydew melon soup with a dollop of lemongrass-infused sour-cream sorbet. The slightly tangy sorbet creates a stark contrast to the sweet liquid, in which tiny balls of melon bob to the surface.

On ambitious days, I’ve been tempted to try to duplicate one of these fabulous creations at home. But chances are my inner child will have to be satisfied with a carton of coffee Haagen-Dazs and a spoon.

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Four Seasons Hotel, 300 S. Doheny Dr., Los Angeles, (310) 273-2222; Michael’s, 1147 3rd St., Santa Monica, (310) 451-0843; Cayo, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, (626) 396-1800; Water Grill, 544 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 891-0900.

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S. Irene Virbila has been on vacation and returns next week.