Burger @ Veselka
For a classic burger that hits all the right marks, head over to Veselka in the East Village. The diner-style burger weighs the same 8 ounces as at diners, but carries none of the heft that leaves you feeling bogged down for hours afterwards. The secret is a thinner patty with a larger surface area, served on a specially-made light and airy bun that cradles the meat and all its delicious juices. The char-broiled burger smacks lightly of grill taste and coats your mouth with its juices. The meat is definitely the star of this burger, as well it should be, though you’d be forgiven for adding bacon and cheese to the mix.

Ice Cream @ I Scream Cakes
On a block reminiscent of London's Shoreditch, I Scream Cakes sells mainly ice cream. A tiny storefront, idiosyncratic and fun, there's not such a thing as plain vanilla on most days. Does owner Kerry Soraci - you'll know her by the multi-colored hair - take food as art seriously? Yes, but not to the point of grimness. Several flavors lean toward spiciness like pineapple- jalapeno and mango-sriracha. One with Chinese five-spice porter, sourced from a micro-brewery across the street, and chips of toasted coconut is amazing, especially when paired with a wee bit of habanero-orange chocolate. See the Facebook page for examples of their cake art, which are not found at Martha-Stewart-type weddings.

Vieira a la Plancha con Ajoblanco y Vinagreta de Cafe @ Restaurante Casa Urola
What makes a pintxo modern? Product? Presentation? Pablo Loureiro of Casa Urola at Calle Fermin Calbeton, 20 does both with an uncommon sensitivity. A classically trained chef, he was raised in the era of the New Basque Cuisine. His dishes are based on the flavours of the Basque Country with subtle twists. In this case an impeccably fresh scallop is grilled to perfection over a charcoal fire and served in a small bowl with its soft red coral atop ajo-blanco (garlic and almond soup) with a delicate coffee vinaigrette. It is modern, beautiful and delicious with flavours that meld perfectly. The key to this dish is the well thought out combination of ingredients combined with a deft hand at the grill.

Paletas @ Neveria La Vallesana
And of course, everything old is new again. We've got housemade paletas, the Mexican version of frozen ice pops, at Neveria la Vallesana on Cherokee Street, where they're surrounded by Mexican stores and other restaurants. Both the simple, like coconut with chunks of coconut meat in it, and the more exotic, like mango chile, seduce. Ice cream by the scoop, too, in flavors both simple and striking, like rice (we haven't seen that since a trip to Florence). There's a restaurant here as well, but you can find the ice cream counters at the very front of the store.

Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream @ Gelateria del Leone
Very close to an authentic Italian coffee house is Gelateria del Leone. There's more than gelato here, with baked goods, coffee and light meals, all made in-house. (Here's your chance to try St. Louis' signature gooey butter cake). The gelato is dense and flavorful, with lots of fruit flavors and nuts, too, like pistachio and hazelnut. Consider as well, London Fog, flavored with bergamot and vanilla, a creamy trip to the tropics, and the amazing vegan chocolate, dark and seductive even to omnivores like us. There's a courtyard in the back, arm chairs, wi-fi, and sidewalk tables, too. Just right in this busy neighborhood of multi-ethnic restaurants and shops.

Ice Cream @ Clementine's Naughty and Nice Creamery
Tucked back into a building in the historic neighborhood of Lafayette Square, Clementine's Naughty and Nice Creamery describes itself as a microcreamery. All-natural ingredients, including lots of local providers like Perennial Ales and Whisk Bakeshop, star here. The naughty part of their name includes ice creams like salted pecan maple bourbon, an absolute winner, and banana rum, which should be paired up with the chocolate stout to achieve near-nirvana. Lemongrass coconut? Gingerbread Love? Right here, or at least part of the rotation of their non-alcoholic flavors. The shop is tiny, but there's a small patio alongside.

Berries and Cream @ Ices Plain & Fancy
The most remarkable execution of next-gen ice cream in these parts has to come from Ices Plain & Fancy. It's a storefront in a residential neighborhood, making most of its ice cream right in front of the customer. They use liquid nitrogen, KitchenAid mixers and blowtorches to create a dense, creamy mixture that's unlike anything else around. It's Ferran Adria crossed, almost literally, with a Victorian London cooking school - see the wall decorations. Berries and cream are topped with a berry coulis, fresh fruit, frozen pomegranate seeds and a rosette of fruit-flavored whipped cream. For the over-21 crowd, there's Dickel whiskey and pralines partying together. Theirs is an unusually flavorful waffle cone, too.

Gold Coast Chocolate @ Serendipity Ice Cream
The progenitor of this group is Serendipity Ice Cream. Owner Beckie Jacobs supplies customers and plenty of better restaurants around town. While the new flavors like cotton candy (candy floss to non-Americans) and chocolate orange tickle us, she really made star status locally when she re-created Gold Coast Chocolate, a long-gone deep, dark chocolate that the boomer generation remembers from a now-gone St. Louis mini-chain called Velvet Freeze. Below are the summer hours for 'Dipity (as it's often referred to); cold weather shrinks them.

House Ramen @ Sticks & Broth
Sticks & Broth, as the name suggests, focuses on two things: yakitori and ramen. Head over at lunchtime and you'll be able to choose from a range of dishes priced at just £6.50 each...and they're well worth the money. Check out the House Ramen, a slow-cooked pork bone broth piled high with noodles, tender beef brisket, bamboo shoots, beansprouts and slice of grilled corn – along with a beautifully cooked half soy egg.

Vegetarian Gyro  @ Grecia Caf y Zuvlaki
Giorgios Sitaras and Petros Skirlis have introduced the tastes of Greece to Cartagena that brings to mind olive groves and Salonica. Although the gyros come in pork, beef, and chicken, we recommend the Vegetarian gyro. Feta cheese, cucumber, tomato, onion, tangy Greek olives, and dzadziki sauce are all stuffed inside a homemade pita bread and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. As people from Cartagena say, it’s “bueno, bonito y barato” (good, tasty and inexpensive).