NYC's 6 Best Cold Eats For Hot Days

We are all sweating it out in this heat — but refreshment is found nearby in some delicious, cold goods that will help you keep your cool — and your calm. Here are a few chilled, light savory items to seek out.

Pickled watermelon rinds, a.k.a. Koolickles, found at Fletcher's Brooklyn Barbecue.

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Wait, are we in Brooklyn...or the deep South? Kool-Aid pickles, or Koolickles, are a Mississippi Delta delicacy — and an intriguing, chill dish for a hot day in New York City. Find them at Fletcher's Brooklyn Barbecue, a Gowanus tribute to the authentic barbecue pit. The watermelon rind koolickles ferment in a brine infused with the juice you drank daily as a child. The restaurant's well-traveled pitmaster, Matt Fisher, brought the unique regional dish back to his hometown of New York City. But you'd better hurry, as the menu item sells out frequently.

Karmic Kale Salad, Blossom Du Jour

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If you're not a kale fan, you may not be convinced of the green, leafy vegetable's benefits — especially come summertime. Kale is super high in calcium, which is crucial to regulate body temperature. Add it to a salad with pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and tahini dressing and you have a refreshing lunch on a sweltering day. The Karmic Kale Salad at Blossom du Jour is a meal you can feel good about.

Made with purple wheat berry, pea tendrils, mint, hazelnut, raisins, find this seafood salad at the swank Forty Four Bar tucked inside the Royalton Hotel. Situated past the Royalton's sleek, modern lobby, the u-shaped bar also offers a cocktail menu of classics and originals. If you're looking to top off your salad with something spiked, reach for the Aquel Lado (Brugal 1888, Remy VSOP, Carpano Antica, Velvet Falernum, and Angostura Bitters served over a block of ice in a double rocks glass with a twist of orange).

More: NYC's Best Glasses Of Lemonade

Jacob's Pickles is known for their delicious take on comfort food — and we all know comfort is what we're looking for when the temperature reaches into the 80s and 90s. Cool down with a glass of their fresh squeezed lemonade — sweetened with organic cane sugar. One sip and you'll feel like your back in grandma's kitchen on a summer afternoon (surprise: you're still on Amsterdam Ave.)

(credit: Desnuda)

Ceviche is the ultimate summertime meal: cool soup that relies on citric acid to "cook" its seafood, instead of making it on the stove. For some of the best ceviche in the city, head to Alphabet City's Desnuda. Its menu goes beyond shrimp, you can try ceviches filled with tiger prawns, diver scallops, even organic Scottish salmon.

Vivoli Il Gelato

Vivoli Il Gelato opened an outpost in Macy's Herald Square last summer, making their ice cold, creamy gelato available state-side for the first time. The Vivoli family has been offering gelato at their famed Florence gelatareria since the 1930s, so we know they're doing something right. To beat the summer heat, third generation gelato-maker Silvana Vivoli has launched two new sorbetti and one new gelato. Some original flavors include Strawberry sorbetto (fragola), Lemon sorbetto (limone) and Banana gelato. Additonal flavors include: Coffee and Mint White Chocolate Chip gelati as well as Raspberry (lampone) and Peach (pesche) sorbetti.