Lambertville's oWowCow has been selected by Pete Genovese as New Jersey's best place to buy ice cream.
Lambertville boasts wide, leafy streets, quirky architecture and an inviting downtown with its share of Revolutionary War grave sites nestled up against boutique restaurants and art galleries.
Now the city can claim additional bragging rights: It's been declared home to the best ice cream in New Jersey - all 24 flavors of it.
Earlier this summer, NJ Advance Media issued a call to readers and posters, seeking the most flavorful version of the treat sold in the Garden State. By the time the competition ended, 275 ice cream shops, stands and stores had been nominated, and more than 55,000 people had cast their votes.
The ultimate winner, after the balloting was broken down by region, was oWowCow Canal Creamery, which sits on a stretch of Lambertville's North Union Street where natural food stores and row homes happily co-exist.
Ice cream store named N.J.'s best
It's not much to look at from the outside, with its industrial mustard-color walls and understated block-lettered sign. But inside, where even on a recent Friday afternoon most stools were occupied, the store gives off a modern designer vibe: exposed brick, undulating ductwork, primary colors, mile-high ceilings.
And oh, that ice cream.
The chocolate pecan caramel is amazing, Alexandra Kozyra told contest coordinator Peter Genovese as she indulged - all in the interest of science, mind you.
Store manager Shira Tizer says the shop delights in surprising customers, concocting such offbeat flavors as blueberry lemon, cinnamon bourbon, blood orange raspberry and sweet honey cream.
Princeton's Bent Spoon wins Reader's Choice
It fell to Genovese to visit all 41 stores that made it to the semi-finals of the contest and taste the entries himself - another tough job, but someone had to do it.
The competition was robust. Joining oWowCow as finalists were The Bent Spoon, Princeton (winner of the Reader's Choice award); Cookman Creamery, Asbury Park; Das' Creamery, Budd Lake; Ice Cream by Mike, Hackensack; Latteria, Swedesboro; Milk Sugar Love, Jersey City; Royale Crown Homemade Ice Cream and Grille, Hammonton; Springer's Homemade Ice Cream, Stone Harbor; and Torico Ice Cream, Jersey City.
John Fezzuoglio, the Brooklyn boy and grad of Manhattan's School of Visual Arts who owns oWowCow, says he's received requests from residents of area towns to open stores nearer to, but so far no plans are in the works.
For all the entertainment a contest like this provides, it has value as a marketing tool as well, not only for the winner, but also for the community surrounding it.
When ice cream aficionados make a pilgrimage to try out the wares, they also get a sprinkling of Lambertville's charm, a taste of its history and a sampling of its culture.
Call it a triple scoop, and enjoy the experience.