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The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory opened with a streamlined assortment of classic, all-natural flavors, a spectacular location in a twenties fireboat house on the Brooklyn waterfront, and the financial backing of the River Café next door, where, unbeknownst to many, the pastry chef concocts all the factory's toppings and syrups. The only thing missing was hot fudge, a glaring omission for certain sundae enthusiasts. "It's one of the hardest things to get right," says perfectionist ice-cream maker Mark Thompson, who tasted the store-bought competition and charged former River Café pastry chef Ellen Sternau with improving on it. She rose to the challenge, using high-grade Michel Cluizel chocolate with a 72 percent cacao content for deep, dark fudge that's worth the wait—and a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

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