by Rebecca Flint Marx | Photo: Maren Caruso; Food styling by Alexa Hyman on July 11, 2016 at San Francisco
Thanks to a host of new shops, the Bay Area is a stone-cold ice cream paradise.
With apologies to ride-hailing apps and Dungeness crab, ice cream may be the Bay Area’s most precious renewable resource. Consider: Every couple of years, we are blessed with a new wave of chilly munificence seemingly designed to broaden our understanding of what frozen desserts can be—and remind us of how good we have it. The latest rash brings a combination of new shops and new concepts: There are storefront debuts from beloved street vendors, shops boasting dairy pasteurized onsite, and the long-awaited ice cream spin-off of a popular bakery (hello, Tartine). There are vegan scoops and customizable sweet-tooth sandwiches and shaved snow from Taiwan. And, most important, there is some damn good ice cream.
Mr. Dewie’s
A presence in East Bay grocery stores for the last five years, Mr. Dewie’s found a permanent home for its cashew-milk-based ice cream in Albany this past March. Founded by lactose-intolerant brothers Ari and Andrew Cohen, the company is beloved by vegans and the dairy averse for its exceptionally creamy and flavorful scoops—think chocolate-orange, caramel-almond, and lemon cookie. At the bright and friendly corner storefront, you can get them on homemade buckwheat waffle cones that deserve to have a following of their own. 1116 Solano Ave. (at Kains St.), Albany.
Originally published in the July issue of San Francisco
