Waterbar’s take on the ice cream sandwich. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant.)

Restaurants Serving Up Ice Cream Sandwiches

With summer in high gear, pastry chefs are channeling their inner child to turn out kid-pleasing ice cream sandwiches.

Lucky for us, they don’t mind if the grown-ups indulge, either.

At Waterbar in San Francisco, fudge cookies sandwich sweet cream ice cream, then get rolled in crunchy, buttery bits of chocolate shortbread ($9).

At the Americano at the Hotel Vitale in San Francisco, they’re crafting the exotic candy cap mushroom ice cream sandwich ($8). If you’ve never had one, you’re missing out. The tiny mushrooms, foraged by Executive Chef Kory Stewart, impart a heavenly maple syrup flavor to the ice cream base. This is one mushroom made for desserts.

And at Prospect in San Francisco, fresh cherries make a star turn in ice cream stuffed inside two chocolate cookies, then all rolled in candied almonds (2 pieces for $4.50).

Prospect’s cherry-chocolate ice cream sandwich. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant.)

 Tonga Room Celebrates the Fourth of July

How about a bona fide beach party — indoors — at the world-famous Tonga Room in the San Francisco Fairmont?

That’s exactly what’s in store on July 4th, 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., when the Tonga Room creates a crazy fun beach scene for the holiday, complete with 2,000 pounds of real sand trucked in just for the event.

Enjoy a beachy celebration at the Tonga Room. (Photo courtesy of the Fairmont San Francisco)

A $65 per person buffet will be offered. Its centerpiece will be a whole roasted suckling pig. The usual cover charge of $5 also will be waived that night.

Still Time to Enjoy “Dine Downtown San Jose”

Through June 30, you’ll have the chance to enjoy a special three-course prixe fixe at participating restaurants in downtown San Jose.

It’s all part of the annual “Dine Downtown San Jose” week promotion.

Participating restaurants include 19 Market, Arcadia, Los Gatos Brewing Company, Paolo’s Restaurant, and Vino Vino.

For every prix-fixe meal sold during the promotion, Sysco will donate $1 to Loaves and Fishes, a non-profit that provides meals to the needy.