"According to nutritionists, wine will either extend your life or shorten it. Until recently, I was unaware that the same can be said of ice cream. An article in The Atlantic reported on a funny phenomenon: to the surprise, dismay, and—to read between the lines—embarrassment of experts, more than one legitimate scientific study has suggested that the consumption of ice cream might mitigate or even prevent diabetes. And so, depending on how you read the data, a visit to Caleta, a natural-wine bar slash ice-cream parlor in the East Village (131 Ave. A; bar bites and ice cream $5.50-$16), is either an exercise in hedonistic excess or a wellness retreat. Perhaps it’s the same difference when you consider the mental-health potential: by the end of a recent date there, a friend and I were both very, very happy." - Hannah Goldfield