The gelato at Argento hints at a bygone purity, as though the dairy and flora were from 1804. If Lewis and Clark paddled ashore today and explored the City Market, a couple of scoops of Argento's coconut gelato might be enough to make them hock their gear, fire their crew and find a loft within sight of this cozy creamery. The famously misspelled, shorthand-filled journal might read this way: "Set out at an early, the breeze being favourable. Our sales ... carried us on at a good pace untill about 12 OCk. when meri had a pip for delectation and we urged our canoes to the bank to espy a near hut with sesame street juice boxes and cool indoor climes and a larder of magnificent, exotic flavors." There would be sketches of the flower-shaped plastic bowls and the thumbnail spoons, annotated with descriptions of each delicate frozen mound and lists speculating on the gelato's ingredients, written in careful Latin. Even for those of us living in the Louisiana Purchase rather than mapping it, the thrill of discovery rises with each visit to Argento.
