Taryn Varricchio: On a relatively quiet street in New York, Caffè Panna is one of the newest ice cream shops to grace the city and combining classic Italian ice cream and coffee flavors into inventive desserts.
Customer: It looked dreamy. It looked like everything, you know, you would want. It's like a dessert, it's coffee all in one.
Taryn: Mm. Caffè Panna in Italian means coffee and cream, which is what this Manhattan bar is specializing in. But what happens when you combine espresso with Italian ice cream? Well, we're here to find out. Let's go.
Hallie Meyer: An affogato is a scoop of ice cream or two with a shot of espresso poured over it. In Italy, it's served at all of these café-bar gelatorias. So it's, like, a little bit of an indulgence but also, like, very adult.
Taryn: That's 26-year-old Hallie Meyer, owner of Caffè Panna. And while this is her first foray into the food world, she comes from New York City restaurant royalty. Her dad is restaurateur Danny Meyer of Shake Shack and Union Square Cafe fame.
Hallie: My whole life, I've been surrounded by great food and also an appreciation for what it takes to make it.
Taryn: Caffè Panna is taking the classic Italian beverage to a whole new level, serving up affogato sundaes full of crunchy mix-ins, sauces, and syrups along with a dollop of cream and a shot of espresso. And the flavors of each element change every single day.
Customer: The ice cream is really good. So, it's super fresh, the ingredients are seasonal.
Hallie: We decided we wanna make, like, a whole category out of affogato. So we have the affogato classico, and then we have the affogato sundae. And that is basically our Americanized, just fun version of an affogato that has a bunch of different textures and flavors. We always like to have a crunch element in our affogato sundaes.
Taryn: What inspired you to turn it into a sundae? 'Cause in Italy, you lived there for a bit, correct?
Hallie: Yeah.
Taryn: So did you have just the traditional version over there?
Hallie: Yeah, I mean, I love a good traditional affogato. I just also love pairing things with coffee.
Taryn: Right. How many of these do you think you ate while you were in Italy?
Hallie: I definitely ate gelato at least once a day. So, this is the fresh mint panna.
Taryn: Is this, like, a thicker cream? This looks kind of dense. Hallie: This, so the cream itself, we're actually getting it, crazily, shipped from Piemonte. So then, this is it, it's got the crunch, it's got the panna, it's got the swirl. And now the last shot.
Taryn: How do you recommend people eat it? Is this a spoon or is this a drink?
Hallie: Both. It's a spoon and a sip situation.
Taryn: I cannot wait to try it. So, we have the affogato sundae here, and then the classico affogato, which is just sweet cream and caramel sauce, and of course the espresso. So I'm gonna start with the classico, just because this is more of a tamer affogato. Just from looking at it, it looks pretty decadent and creamy. Wow, I feel like I did not get the espresso, because that was so cold on my tooth. Let me get the full espresso. It's already melted so fast. I didn't think it would happen so immediately. Mm, there, I got the punch of espresso. It's just, like, a creamier, soupier coffee. With a lot of caramel, which I actually really enjoy. The scoops of ice cream have kind of already melted away a bit, but I like it. So this one, like Hallie said, this is mint-infused peppermint ice cream with fudge. I'm gonna scoop it really good so I can make sure I get every bite. Mm. Definitely taste the mint. But I like the coffee 'cause I feel like it tames it for me. This dessert just has a lot of things that complement each other. You have the hot, you have the cold, you have the sweet, you have the crunchy. It's like, that coffee doesn't feel as bitter and that ice cream doesn't feel as sweet, so I kind of really like the combination. Like, at this point I feel like you just might wanna try drinking it. Ooh, I like that way better. I don't think that's how you're supposed to eat it, but I like it.
Hallie: I think I've been interested in ice cream my entire life, like most people. And that's actually my favorite thing about ice cream, is that you say, hey, I'm opening an ice cream shop, and everyone's eyes light up, no matter who they are, how old they are, where they come from. My priority was just to make a place that anyone wants to come in for a quick moment, because everyone enjoys a scoop of ice cream.
