Michele StuevenIt’s July, the mercury is finally climbing and it’s National Ice Cream Month. L.A. offerings are abundant and it’s just not about vanilla and chocolate anymore. Celebrate the month with everything from a strawberry tres leches shortcake taco to Scoops on Tap with a stroll down Ice Cream Alley. Or, say happy birthday with a Barbie-inspired pink cotton candy ice cream cake.
Smorgasburg LA’s Ice Cream Alley said farewell to the Wanderlust team this week after seven successful years. The brand got its start on the alley along with other frozen favorites like Evil Cooks, Creamo, and Happy Ice. With Wanderlust leaving, this year’s Ice Cream Alley will be a chance for the public to decide who gets to take its place at the end of the summer as the next full-time ice cream vendor.
Smorgasburg’s Annual Ice Cream Alley will launch on National Ice Cream Day, July 16, and will run every Sunday through Labor Day Weekend. Here’s the summer’s lineup:
Ice Cream Alley (Courtesy Smorgasburg)
SadGirl Creamery: A Latina-owned business, Sad Girl reimagines American ice cream classics with Latin-inspired flavors like mangonada drumstick, strawberry tres leches shortcake taco and the Argentinian dulce de leche “Che Taco.”
Creamo: Vegan coconut ice cream sandwiches by longtime Smorgasburg resident Donut Friend
Scoops on Tap: Award-winning beer-infused ice cream, and more, hand-made in Covina
McConnell’s: Responsible, sustainable, fine ice creams made from scratch since 1949
Happy Ice: Smorgasburg resident vendor serving authentic Philly water ice in colorful dairy-free, nut-free, and gluten-free flavors
Creamy Boys: A group of New Zealanders serving classic Kiwi styles of real fruit ice cream, a dairy or non-dairy vanilla base blended with strawberry, mixed berry and banana. Plus New Zealand favorite, Hokey Pokey, a sweet, crunchy honeycomb-toffee style made in-house and blended through dairy or non-dairy ice cream.
Kinrose Creamery: Handmade, small batch, Persian ice cream with vibrant flavors like saffron pistachio rose, sour cherry(with “Fairy Floss’), and honey walnut baklava
626 Hospitality Group: Returning to Ice Cream Alley for the third year in a row, 626 Hospitality Group is a collective of community-inspired, chef-driven concepts honoring the flavor of the San Gabriel Valley, like sake kasu and coconut pandan sundaes.
Moom Maam: Thai-owned and inspired, gourmet Italian gelato with real ingredients. Try the gluten-free coconut waffle, developed from the concept of a Thai snack called ทองม้วน(thong moun). The batter is formulated to give it an ultra-light, thin and crisp-like taste with the aroma of Thai coconut.
Nobuko Shave Ice: A mobile authentic shave ice shack providing a unique Hawaiian experience for all the senses. Working with chefs from around the globe to create exclusive flavor pairings and bringing them to Southern California.
White raspberry (Courtesy Lavender and Truffles)
Lavender and Truffles reimagines classic flavors churning small-batch, rich and creamy non-dairy frozen desserts bursting with flavor and will pop up with free tastings at The Tiny Bandit in Venice on Sunday, July 16. Flavors from Alicia Liu include black tahini, ginger turmeric, lychee rose, matcha stracciatella, Dalgona coffee, mint strawberry, salted chocolate, and classic vanilla.
Formulated with wellness in mind, Lavender and Truffles uses six essential ingredients: organic oat milk - which helps to reduce the risk of heart disease; pure cold-pressed organic unrefined virgin coconut oil - rich in antioxidants; high oleic sunflower oil - abundant in monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acids, a “healthy” fat known to assist in lowering bad LDL cholesterol; low-processed organic cane sugar - delivering natural sweetness; organic inulin - derived from the agave plant for a smoother creamy texture; and organic guar gum - a plant-based stabilizer. Combined and balanced together, each pint contains 40% to 50% fewer calories and fat compared to traditional dairy ice cream.
Yogurtland will honor National Ice Cream Month and National Watermelon Month in July with its limited-time Watermelon Lemonade Sorbet and online exclusive Beach Buddies Cup. The limited-time releases are now available at participating Yogurtland locations nationwide, while supplies last. Made with real watermelon and lemon, it’s a tangy vegan and non-fat treat. Yogurtland also will offer its online Beach Buddies Cup, made with Rocket Pop Sorbet, mochi, mango bubble burst and ocean pack gummies.
S’more Sundae (Courtesy Connie and Ted’s)
Cool off at Connie and Ted’s with one of Pastry Chef Daphane DeLone’s specialty sundaes like the S’more, made with house-made graham crackers, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and torched fresh marshmallow crème topping. Other standout frozen flavors on Connie & Ted’s ice cream menu include the classic vanilla, butterscotch, chocolate, and LAmill coffee fudge swirl, and dairy-free blood orange, raspberry, or limoncello sorbet.
McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams will launch two new summer-centric flavors on Friday, July 14, just in time for National Ice Cream Day. The Root Beer Float is made with Boylan’s classic effervescent root beer infused with Central Coast milk and cream. The Banana Split combines pureed ripe bananas folded into velvety Central Coast milk and cream with ribbons of house-made chocolate fudge, heaps of roasted peanuts, and Santa Barbara strawberries. Online shoppers get a 20% discount, and if you buy three, get one free in-store from Friday, July 14, through Monday, July 17.
Salt & Straw has brought back its popular “Berries, Berries, Berries” menu in celebration of summer bounty. For National Ice Cream Day on July 16, any local delivery orders via their website that day of three pints or more will receive an extra free pint. This year’s menu will be available through the month of July, and features the return of three favorites, along with two new flavors from co-founder Chef Tyler Malek:
- Birthday Cake & Blackberries — For the little kid in everyone, this double-vanilla ice cream is filled with sweet hunks of rainbow-sprinkled crumble, folded with a ribbon of Oregon Hill evergreen blackberry jam.
- Wild-Foraged Berry Slab Pie — This classic berry pie a la mode inspired flavor brings together berries foraged by Salt & Straw’s friend “Bear” from the slopes of Mt. Baker in Washington. A salted vanilla ice cream is layered with a sweet berry filling and crispy bits of double-baked pie crust.
- Goat Cheese Marionberry Habanero — Inspired by Oregon-invented marionberries, this flavor combines tangy goat cheese ice cream with fruity, fiery marionberry-habanero jam, creating a tongue twister of sweetness and spice.
- GoNanas Strawberry Caramel Banana Bread (v) — Salted caramel banana bread, from women-owned and founded vegan and allergen-friendly baking mix startup GoNanas, is swirled into banana caramel ice cream with a ripple of Hood strawberry jam.
- GoNanas Banana Blueberry Crumble (v) — Blueberry muffin meets banana bread in this sweet coconut ice cream, mixed with GoNanas blueberry coffee cake crumble, a touch of bright Meyer lemon, and a ribbon of blueberry jam.
Halo Top Pint Pack
For OREO lovers – The OREO MEGA STUF Cone is an OREO waffle cone that’s been drizzled inside with OREO creme and comes with two scoops of Baskin-Robbins classic Cookies ‘n Cream with another layer of OREO cream filling, topped with whipped cream and OREO cookie pieces. The new OREO MEGA STUF Cappuccino Blast at Baskin-Robbins features two added drizzles of OREO cream filling.
Melt No More: On National Ice Cream Day, Halo Top will launch a new item for the most fashionable of ice cream lovers – the Halo Top Pint Pack – designed to carry a single pint of ice cream and keep it cold anywhere you go from the pool to the hiking trail, to the beach. The pint-sized pack comes shaped like the Halo Top pint and is stylishly crafted to keep your ice cream cold and creamy with a spot for your spoon. The limited edition Halo Top Pint Packs go on sale starting on Sunday, July 16, at PintPack.HaloTop.com for $73.90.
And if that’s not enough summer, just in time for the premiere of the Barbie movie on Friday, July 21, Cold Stone Creamery has released a limited-edition Barbie-inspired flavor. The ice cream shop will offer the All that Glitters is Pink, with Pink Cotton Candy ice cream, graham cracker pie crust, dance party sprinkles, and whipped cream. There’s also a Barbie-themed ice cream cake. Fans of Barbie can enter Cold Stone’s sweepstakes for a chance to win movie tickets, gift cards, and a Barbie Dreamhouse. Enter online through Tuesday, Aug. 8.
All That Glitters is Pink (Courtesy Cold Stone Creamery)
Dippin’ Dots is giving away complimentary servings of its original beaded ice cream at participating locations nationwide on Sunday, July 16 during a two-hour window. Participating Dippin’ Dots locations will give customers one free mini cup of their favorite Dippin’ Dots flavor. Giveaway locations can be found at www.dippindots.com/locator, the promotion is limited to one per customer. For those looking to celebrate National Ice Cream Day at home, Dippin’ Dots is offering 20% off all online orders on Sunday, July 16 on the website using the promo code NICD23.
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