Hedonist Artisan Ice Cream & Chocolates — Restaurant in City of Rochester

Always unexpected and yet always fabulous. The staff is ALWAYS upbeat, friendly and happy to chat with customers and teach them about their unusual offerings. Tastes are available, which you will WANT to take advantage of, and don't worry, even the oddest sounding ice creams are somehow always done well here at Hedonist.

Don't believe me? This last trip I tried funnel cake, lilac and blooming onion ice cream. Yes, you read that correctly, BLOOMING ONION. It wasn't exactly sweet, not exactly savory, but I expected to dislike it intensely and instead found myself deeply intrigued. We decided it would be a perfect topping for potato-onion pancakes.

I also didn't expect to enjoy lilac ice cream, and ended up being enchanted. I had my bowl half chocolate sorbet (vegan) and half lilac. My only qualm being that where the chocolate and the lilac co-mingled, the chocolate overpowered the more delicately flavored delight of the lilac. But being a long-time fan of the chocolate sorbet, I expected that and took the risk. The funnel cake flavor would have been a better option, but who could resist something as exotic and ephemeral as lilac; especially here in Rochester during the season of the blooming?

I am loathe to share the secret, but don't forget to ask if they have any "seconds' pints. These are discounted and always fun to take home. We got espresso, which later discovered to be a sorbet. My boyfriend, being lactose intolerant and immune to the effects of caffeine, snagged that from my freezer for his own. The other pint was Mystery-- in that they forgot what batch it came from. Turned out to be a blend of chocolate and vanilla with peanut butter cups, and some other intriguing treats tossed in-- sort of an homage to Rocky Road? But delicious.

Don't forget to get your loyalty card punched. After 6 visits, you get a free pint. There's only a couple tables and quite frequently a line, so get there early and try something different. You can always go ahead and order you same-old flavor you always get, but take a chance and try a spoon of something unusually delicious and different...

I normally would give this place 5 stars, as I go here pretty often. The most recent time I went however was this past Thursday May 2nd. I went around 8:30pm. Adding these specific details because the employee scooping ice cream that night was clearly new or just not meant for this job. They seemed legitimately strung out. My partner and I had to repeat our orders several times to them and they still got it wrong. They seemed like they were on drugs or something, just really not paying attention. Not moving quickly. Not switching gloves. They said nothing to us when handing us the ice creams. It was bizarre and the vibes were rancid. We were charged for 2 toppings even though we only had one. My partner ordered the toffee almond and I ordered the chocolate sorbet. My partner was handed a crushed cone leaking out the sides. Normally we are very pleased with the ice cream but on this night it was genuinely awful. Nothing artisan about any of the experience. The chocolate sorbet had an oily texture and left grease on my lips; I feel like I don't need to explain how this is off-putting. The toffee almond was atrocious. My partner only took a few bites. It tasted like straight up chunks of crisco shortening were mixed in. I understand using shortening as an emulsifier so maybe that explains it, but this batch tasted nasty. Still willing to give Hedonist another try as a long time fan, but I would rest easier if I knew that management would take a look at who was working that night and taste tested the ice creams...

As someone who goes above and beyond to support local / small businesses, and also someone who loves a sweet treat, I was excited to try hedonist ice cream for the first time after moving to the area recently. Unfortunately the experience I had at hedonist ice cream was so bad I feel the need to warn others.

The store was dirty and the ice cream was being stored in a chest freezer with the lid propped open with a broom handle. This was the first red flag but at this point we were already in the store so we decided to ordered two small scoops of ice cream. The employees were not friendly and seemed like they were being inconvenienced to take our order. The salted caramel ice cream was so soft / warm that the employee could barely scoop it into the cup. It looked like half melted soft serve. It tasted extremely salty and had little other flavor. The strawberry ice cream was at least the right frozen consistency but tasted like plain milk with barely a hint of sweetness or strawberry. We were extremely disappointed and threw our cups away after taking two bites. A waste of $13. I know running a small business is difficult especially right now but there really is no excuse for the experience we had at hedonist Ice cream. Save your money and go...