Valencia Street wants for little in terms of tasty treats, but who can say no to Smitten's flash-frozen ice cream? It's actually churned with liquid nitrogen before your eager eyes, creating unrivaled (in my opinion!) creaminess and providing for uniquely fresh flavors. Aromatic mint, pudding-rich Tcho chocolate, damn it now I want Smitten.

The ice creamery has also flash-expanded since 2011 from its Hayes Valley shipping container digs to, now, five locations and counting. For those keeping track, you can find them in Pac Heights, Rockridge, Los Altos, Lafayette, and soon, far-flung El Segundo. The final — for now — spot will mark the sixth and occupy two storefronts: 904 and 908 Valencia near 20th Street (one of those, you might remember, was home to Chocolatier Blue).

“The Mission is where Smitten Ice Cream was born," founder and liquid nitrogen tinkerer Robyn Sue Fisher says of the opening slated for sometime next year. It's there where she first hauled her flash-churner on a red Radio Flyer. "To be able to open a beautiful and thoughtful shop right next to where I used to set up my rickety old wagon seven years ago really brings the Smitten dream full circle."