Want the finest? Here’s the scoop

HERE’S a selection of our favorite places in Los Angeles and Orange counties for the best artisanal gelato and the finest house-made European- or American-style ice cream.

Al Gelato. The Lisuzzo family has been making gelato in this old-school shop since 1978, and they still make it the way Claire Lisuzzo learned it in Calabria. This is simple, purist gelato, with good flavors -- lately blackberry, house-made espresso and rice pudding. The cafe also serves pizzas, salads and soups, giant meatballs and an apple pie the size of a hat box. 806 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 659-8069.

Boule. The ice cream at Michelle Myers’ patisserie is as big a draw as her house-made chocolates. Six ice cream flavors rotate, including wild honey with honey from Santa Barbara’s San Marcos Farms, deeply flavored caramel and an ultra-dense Venezuelan chocolate. Six sorbets make the rotation too, including yuzu and lavender-apricot. Boule moves to a larger store a few doors down this summer. 420 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 289-9977; www.boulela.com.

Bulgarini. Leo Bulgarini’s and Elizabeth Foldi’s new Altadena gelateria will have its grand opening on Saturday, with free gelato from noon to 8 p.m. About two dozen frozen choices such as Sicilian almond gelato, cherimoya gelato and Valrhona chocolate-rum gelato, cantaloupe-Tanqueray sorbetto and espresso granita. 749 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena; (626) 441-2319; www.bulgarinigelato.com.

Cafe Blanc. When pastry chef Tomihisa Harase opened his bakery and gelateria a year and a half ago, he put in a case filled with 24 flavors of gelato. Smooth, dense and not overly sweet, Harase’s gelati change with the season and his inspiration. A recent trip yielded brown sugar caramel gelato, a rich Sicilian pistachio and a phenomenal dandelion-honey gelato. Or sorbetto made from Ojai mandarin oranges, yuzu or wild strawberry. 298 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa; (949) 631-9999; www.cafeblanc.us.

Cafe Lucca. A wonderful addition to the circle in Old Town Orange, this cafe-gelateria opened late last summer and was immediately a hit with antiques shoppers, locals and students of nearby Chapman University. There are usually about 18 flavors, all made on premises, and while there are some always-available standards such as a classic hazelnut and a homage-toBalboa-Fun-Zone creation -- chocolate-covered banana -- the changing fruit gelati and sorbetti are spectacular: Cantaloupe, blood orange, pomegranate are all creamy and intensely fruit flavored. 106 N. Glassell St., Orange; (714) 289-1255; www.cafelucca.com.

Caffe Primo. At this Sunset Strip hot spot, the two dozen or so gelati and sorbetti are displayed in a bright cafe with high marble tables. Or grab a hand-made cone filled with chile chocolate or coconut-mango and take it outside on the patio. 8590 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 289-8895; www.iloveprimo.com

Crema Dolci. Herb- and spice- infused gelati such as lavender, Vietnamese cassia cinnamon and mint are the standouts at this 4-year-old Redondo Beach spot. Owner Kaity Tom makes them using fresh, mostly organic ingredients. “Now wait a minute before you eat it,” says Tom, who makes them using fresh, mostly organic ingredients. “When it warms to about 15 degrees, the flavors will really open up.” Easier said than done. 1820 S. Catalina Ave., Redondo Beach; (310) 944-3773.

Fosselman’s. Christian Fosselman first began making ice cream in Iowa in 1919, before relocating to California in the 1920s to open an ice cream store. Today his two grandsons run the quaint storefront in Alhambra, where they make ice cream in-house every day, using the same family recipe. Though the dense, velvety ice cream hasn’t changed, the flavors aren’t quite what they were in 1919 Iowa: lemon custard, dulce de leche, passion fruit and a gorgeous violet-colored taro. 1824 W. Main St., Alhambra; (626) 282-6533; www.fosselmans.com.

Gelato Bar. Gail Silverton’s and Joel Gutman’s snazzy little gelateria feels like a little slice of Rome, with perfect espresso, amazing gelati and sorbetti -- even complimentary Italian lessons on Thursday afternoons. Don’t miss the lemon aspro (lemon gelato with candied lemon peel); stracciatella (vanilla gelato shot through with chocolate); pistachio gelato -- or go for a combo scoop of blood orange and chocolate sorbetti. Bellissima! 7290 Beverly Blvd. 4342 1/2 Tujunga Ave., Studio City; (818) 487-1717.

Hans’ Homemade Ice Cream. You can watch almost any afternoon as Hans Biermann makes one of the 50 flavors he offers daily from a repertoire of about 200 recipes at his ice cream parlor near South Coast Plaza. Some recipes, such as watermelon sherbet, call for fresh fruit, others for special ingredients he’s scouted through the decades from mostly East Coast sources. He’s taken customer requests to develop unusual flavors such as his remarkably soft, natural and evocative licorice ice cream, but there’s also a classic vanilla and on a recent afternoon, more than 20 chocolate variations. Biermann’s secret is 16% butterfat and smaller batches that are incredibly thick and creamy. 3640 S. Bristol St., Santa Ana; (714) 979-8815.

Massimo’s. Massimo Moro sold his Mar Vista gelateria last year to the owner of Rainbow Acres, the natural food store next door. But though Moro isn’t there anymore, his recipes -- and his pastry chef -- still are. Eusebio Ramos makes the same gelato he has for the last seven years, with flavors like a smooth, gorgeously green kiwi gelato, a rich apple-caramel gelato and a fruity pear sorbetto. There’ll be room for a dozen more flavors when the gelateria moves into larger digs around the corner in two months. 13222 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 823-8381.

Milk. The flavors here are mostly old fashioned, but done luxuriously: sumptuous strawberry, Valrhona chocolate, coffee-toffee crunch made with house-made toffee. Owner Bret Thompson, a former executive chef for the Patina Group, makes a mean banana split and a dreamy Milky Way malt, but there’s also hand-dipped bon bons and ice cream sandwiches made with classic French macarons. 7290 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; (323) 939-6455.

Pazzo Gelato. The gelato at this year-old Silver Lake hot spot has an intensity of flavor that comes from premium ingredients: farmers market fruit, organic milk supplied by a Northern California dairy, house-brewed Intelligentsia espresso. With flavors like mascarpone, chevre-roasted pear, and chocolate-tangerine, it’s easy to see why they’re planning to expand -- a second store in the downtown Arts District is in the works. 3827 Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake; (323) 662-1410.

Scoops. Owner and ice cream maker Tai Kim is known for his inventive flavor combinations, but when he put a foie gras ice cream on the menu about two weeks ago, the Chowhound boards flared up. “People liked it,” said Kim, “but the vegans were a little upset.” There’s plenty of other flavors to chose from: Kim makes 18 a day, and admits to 700 new flavors since he opened almost two years ago. (Yes, he’s saved every recipe.) Try the black truffle with honey, or strawberry and balsamic vinegar. Bacon-caramel? He’s got that too. 712 N Heliotrope Drive, Los Angeles; (323) 906-2649.

-- Amy Scattergood and Susan LaTempa