Earlier this week, I wrote about Daily Recess, an ambitious Marin County gelato outfit that is the last remaining tenant in the food court of a rapidly expiring mall. Just a half-mile away is an ice cream parlor that is, in many ways, the photo negative of Daily Recess; I would call them rivals if they weren’t so different.
Silbermann’s, located in an outdoor shopping center anchored by a Safeway and a Walgreen’s, celebrated its 60th birthday this year. During the five minutes I was there, I saw more customers than during the two separate visits I made to Daily Recess. Parking was challenging. There were two employees manning the counter at Silbermann’s, while at Daily Recess, I found owner Kristi Gauslow popping her head out of the back to take orders between spinning batches of strawberry buttermilk gelato and honeydew mint sorbet.
When I asked our photo editor and former Terra Linda resident Ramin Rahimian if he knew of Silbermann’s, he said that owner Curtis Silbermann was his youth soccer coach. A photo of young Ramin and his team hangs on the wall, one of dozens of commemorative plaques thanking Silbermann’s for its patronage. It’s that type of place; maybe the customer who was handed his usual cone without having to order was one of those Little Leaguers, all grown up…