Heat is rising from New York’s sidewalks. Close toed shoes have been banished to the back of closets. We look for excuses to be outside. Summer is here.

And just as our cheeks start to crave daily sun exposure, our taste buds crave the delights that mark the new season. For as many summers as I can remember one of these delights has been the ice cream sandwich.

On a steamy afternoon last week, I walked Hudson Street from SoHo to Chelsea to collect some of the city’s most touted ice cream sandwiches. That night, four of us tasted them and waxed poetic about how they stacked up against the tried-and-oddly-true Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich that we’ve all enjoyed since childhood.

Jacques Torres’s ice cream sandwich ($5.50) not only looked the best, it also had the best tasting cookie and the best vanilla ice cream. Amazing, none of these wins translated into the best overall sandwich. The chocolate in Torres’s chocolate chip cookies was so rich it overpowered the entire sandwich. Apparently better ingredients do not a better ice cream sandwich make, a realization that is counter intuitive to how we’ve come to think about food.

Torres’s sandwich was also the largest and the most difficult to eat. The ice cream wasn’t evenly distributed and did not reach the cookies’ edges. The cookies broke and the ice cream oozed. And unlike its Hudson Street competitors, Torres does not offer freezer to-go bags. You best live close to home or be ready to scarf this baby down.

Three Tarts Bakery ($4.25) makes a whoopie pie-ice cream sandwich hybrid. It’s square instead of round. Instead of cookies, there are thin pieces of cake. Instead of run-of-the-mill ice cream flavors, artisan combinations are employed. There’s goat cheese, strawberry balsamic ice cream and rosemary chocolate chip ice cream. I opted for the rosemary. You should not. The herby ice cream was too grassy and potent. A fellow taster remarked that it, “tasted like eating a christmas tree.” Tis the wrong season.

The Tollhouse version has many advantages. It’s the cheapest ($3), the easiest to find, and it always delivers on its memory. The cookie-to-ice cream ratio is so perfect it could only have come from a factory. Unfortunately, the same goes for the uniform cookies, with their slightly chalky and not so real taste. Even if it’s not superior, a Tollhouse ice cream sandwich can still satisfy a summer craving. This humble ice cream sandwich held up against its newfangled competitors. We were surprised and happy with its performance.

We were also surprised by Chelsea Market’s unassuming Ronnybrook Milk Bar sandwich ($4.08). At first glance the cookies look too dark, as if burnt. The sandwich itself looks too regular to be special. Our first bites relieved us of our assumptions.  The cookies had great homemade taste and were the ideal ice cream sandwich consistency, soft but not mushy. The sandwich stayed intact from first bite to last. The ice cream was icy and fresh. It wasn’t trying to be more than it should have been and it turned out just right. It was, in essence, a better Tollhouse.

Here’s to a summer of simple pleasures.

For the third time in as many weeks I went to Mulberry Street. More specifically the block between Spring and Prince, which has become quite the culinary destination. This particular Sunday the occasion was dinner at Balaboosta.

Einat Admony, the chef-owner of Balaboosta, is also the woman behind Taim and its acclaimed falafel and hummus. Staying true to her Israeli roots, Balaboosta’s menu features Middle Eastern food with a Mediterranean touch. The cozy restaurant, filled with bookshelves, wooden tables, and flickering votives also provides a venue for Admony to show us that her aspirations far exceed chick peas.

Balaboosta means “the perfect housewife” in Yiddish. The name suits the restaurant. The servers are warm and friendly. The food has a home cooked quality. The wine is poured more quickly than the water.

Admony’s signature hummus comes to the table in a playful mortar and pestle set-up. When the restaurant first opened it was more of the “make your own” variety. Now, thankfully, it arrives ready for consumption with just a few whole chick peas for those who can’t resist the opportunity to mash. The hummus is thick and fresh. The piping hot pita that accompanies it is out of this world.

The best dish of the night was the Crispy Cauliflower. The marriage of crunchy florets, sweet currants, and pine nuts worked so well we had to resist a second order. Foolproof Patatas Bravas were jazzed up with a sour cream-like  garlic aioli.

Another stellar play on texture and flavor, and a testament to Admony’s skill and creativity, is the Shrimp “Kataif.” Whole shrimp are wrapped in shredded phyllo, fried, and doused in a fish roe sauce that pops in your mouth.

The nightly special was a Seared Duck Breast, glazed with cherry and pomegranate and accompanied by a vegetable tarte tartin. It felt more fall than summer, but it also sounded too good to pass up. The duck was cooked perfectly. The tarte tartin was mediocre. This one is best left for October.

To the contrary, Grilled Branzino, served with asparagus and a fennel and citrus salad was the perfect warm night meal. The fish was slightly under-seasoned and the skin slightly under-crisped, but I’ve yet to meet a Branzino I don’t like.

I’m always reminded how much I enjoy poultry prepared “under a brick.” It rivals even the moistest of roasted birds. Balaboosta’s succulent chicken is no exception.

The best entree was the Spice Rubbed Skirt Steak. Another well-prepared protein with a tantalizing flavor profile that melds sweet and spice. Roasted sweet potatoes and a refreshing and crunchy cumin slaw completed the dish.

Our dessert of Date and Banana Bread Pudding was a poignant conclusion to a meal marked by approachable preparations. More dishes with the skilled and artful punch of the Crispy Cauliflower and Shrimp “Kataif” would cement this NoLIta block on the culinary map, but even as is, this is one housewife Mulberry Street should be proud to call its own.

Balaboosta is located at 214 Mulberry Street near Spring.

Don’t worry, your computer screen is not experiencing a green tint malfunction. Matcha Box, a SoHo pop-up, is capitalizing on the goodness of green with matcha-based drinks and sweets. The mini-store is care of Alissa White, the green goddess behind Matcha Source, who is in Manhattan for the month of June to share her love of all things matcha with New Yorkers. (For the tea-challenged: Matcha is a Japanese green tea that is at the heart of the very special Japanese tea ceremony.)

The offerings at Matcha Box are limited, but the flavor is intense. Hot Matcha, Iced Matcha, and Matcha Lattes are made with care by a skilled brewologist. The result is an emerald drink that is just as bright and refreshing in taste as it is in color.

The treats, created by pastry chef Jessica Chien, all use matcha in one way or another (dust here, glaze there) and nicely adhere to the color scheme. The pillowy Match-mallow was the best of the lot, followed closely by the Madeleine and an oddly addictive Marshmallow Munchy. The shortbread cookie – with too much matcha and not enough buttery taste – was the only sweet that wasn’t carefully balanced.

Matcha Box is only scheduled to be open until the end of June, so hurry up and get your green on.

Matcha Box is located at 33 Crosby Street and according to their website, will be open Saturday through Tuesday from 11am to 7pm.

This beauty of a bird is Torrisi’s House Roasted Turkey. Its simple moniker significantly understates its preparation. There’s so much more to this turkey than just an oven, a roasting pan, and some basting, which is why it tastes like no other roasted turkey you’ve ever had.

The most discerning palate might be able to identify the ingredient-laden glaze of garlic, pepper, herbs, and honey. The glaze gives the meat a balanced flavor, but without the processed uniformity of sodium packed deli meat. Some bites taste a little sweeter. Others like thyme.

What’s more difficult to figure out is how the turkey gets its texture, which is by far, its most distinguishing feature. It’s so moist, it’s almost wet. There were bites that seemed more pork than poultry. One could even draw a parallel to a dense fish. The turkey’s uncharacteristic juiciness is the result of a sous-vide type cooking process that involves plastic wrap, a special moist-convection oven, and an extensive cooking time.

At lunch time it’s cut by hand and can be ordered by the 1/4 pound or on a sandwich.

I opted for the Turkey Hero ($9) which comes with tomato, shredded lettuce, a few strings of red onion, mayo, and a spicy tomato-pepper sauce. (There’s also a Turkey Roll for $7.) The bread is of the old-school variety, care of neighborhood favorite Parisi Bakery. In true deli tradition, the bread is just right. Those accustomed to the newfangled, oat and wheat kinds might be disappointed. The spicy sauce has an ideal piquant level and though I’m normally not a fan, the shredded lettuce worked.

Since Torrisi starting serving lunch, their turkey has been touted as the second coming. I completely understand why people are wooed by the non-turkey texture, but if the talent at Torrisi can dress up a turkey so well, imagine what they could do to pork loin or a piece of catfish. The thought alone is enough to make my mouth water in a way that turkey never will.

In 1999 I was introduced to the best smoked turkey I had ever eaten. The thickly sliced turkey was moist and had that wondrous hickory taste without being too salty. In a stroke of genius, it was served on a buttered and toasted croissant.

The turkey is still smoked on-site and served at the Blue Ridge Pig, a BBQ shack that is identifiable by the pig signage that hangs over Route 151 in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains and the glorious smell of wood chips. Last weekend I was lucky enough to be in the area and got to whet my turkey taste buds and test my memory.

Had the tryptophan affected my judgment a decade earlier? It had not. The turkey was just as good as I remembered (as were the mustardy baked beans).

May your long weekend be filled with BBQ. Happy Memorial Day!