If there’s anyone who can recommend the best frozen treats around town, it’s Christina Tosi. The James Beard award-winning pastry chef and founder of Momofuku Milk Bar is a sugar fiend who freely enjoys others’ sweet creations as well as her own. “That’s the best part of my job!” she says. “I have to go to Dairy Queen today cause I gotta do research.” This is her Milkshake New York.
Manhattan
Momofuku Milk Bar, various locations, milkbarstore.com
“We make an espresso shake that’s two shots of espresso in a milkshake made with our famous cereal-milk-flavored soft serve. It’s sort of like a highbrow Starbucks Frappuccino. It’s got a really sort of nice depth from the espresso.”
DQ Grill & Chill, 54 W. 14th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues
“I’ve been waiting for a Dairy Queen to come to New York City. I went on opening day all by myself — no one would play hooky with me! I grew up going to ice cream shops, and Dairy Queen was the family favorite. I always ordered a Blizzard with chocolate chip cookie dough, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Oreos. It’s not on the menu.”
Hill Country Chicken, 1123 Broadway, between 25th and 26th streets
“I like the pie shakes from Hill Country. Their pies are awesome, and for some reason, when they blend it into a milkshake, they’re even better. The flavors rotate based on whatever pies are on the menu. My favorite is the Pig Pickin’ Pie — it’s basically a peanut butter pie meets a banana cream pie — blended into a milkshake.”
Paul’s Da Burger Joint, 131 Second Ave., between 7th Street and St. Marks Place
“Paul’s [has] this milkshake they call the Michael Jackson. It’s essentially a black-and-white milkshake, which is a chocolate shake made with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. The waitresses are super charismatic and seem like they have been working there for 30 years.”
Brooklyn
Tom’s Diner, 782 Washington Ave. at Sterling Place, Prospect Heights
“I love the chocolate malted milkshake at this classic diner in Prospect Heights, just around the corner from where I used to live. There’s something about that very, very, very classic flavor — I’ve learned to love the malted taste at the classic diner. It’s like the romance of the milkshake.”
OddFellows, 175 Kent Ave., between Third and Fourth streets, Williamsburg
“My favorite sort of highbrow, grown-up milkshakes are the ones from Sam Mason’s quirky soda shop, which is a few blocks from my place in Williamsburg. I used to work for Sam when he was the pastry chef at wd-50. He largely shaped my approach to how ice cream can be made, and pushing the envelope in terms of flavor. [OddFellows] will basically blend any of their ice cream flavors into a milkshake. Sam has a buttermilk biscuit ice cream that I love for milkshakes — it just has this nice, tangy acidity from the buttermilk, which gives it great depth, and the biscuit gives it a really great buttery, salty, toasted note.”