You may not think of Palo Alto as the epicenter of ice cream in the Bay Area, but that’s what it’s become — and we’re not talking the standard Baskin Robbins kind of ice cream. With a population of 67,000 people within a 24-square-mile radius, Palo Alto is not a big city. But despite that, this town has seven artisanal ice cream shops, five of which are within a three-block radius of each other.
To imply superior quality, shops describe their dairylicious offerings as “gourmet,” “microcreamery,” “artisan,” “handmade,” “handcrafted,” “small batch,” “nitrogen-frozen,” “locally sourced,” and “all natural.” These ice creameries make their own products with premium ingredients, usually in smaller batches, for better quality control and freshness. Some also use unconventional methods and ingredients to differentiate themselves from the rest.
Ice cream is America’s favorite dessert — sorry, apple pie — but it seems excessive for one small city to have this many places that serve a gourmet version of it. So why is Palo Alto such a hot spot for ice cream?
Tin Pot Creamery started its business in Palo Alto before it became a brick-and-mortar shop. The owners of Morsey’s Creamery are loyal residents of the area. Scoop Microcreamery’s current owners bought the business over a year ago because of their love of ice cream. Gelato Classico and Rick’s Rather Rich Ice Cream have been around since before the neighborhood became hip. And it made perfect business sense for Salt & Straw to want in on such a popular, educated, affluent area like Palo Alto’s University Avenue.
With an estimated 40,000 new jobs expected to be created in this part of the peninsula in the next few years, that may be reason enough to justify multiple gourmet ice cream shops.
There may not be a consensus for why Palo Alto has become a mecca for ice cream. However, for a potential small business, it has a lot going for it.
The mid-peninsula is considered by many as the new hub of Silicon Valley, and Palo Alto sits right in the middle of the action. Google and LinkedIn are to the south in neighboring Mountain View, and Facebook is to the north in Menlo Park. Companies such as Tesla, VMware, and Hewlett-Packard are also within the city limits. With an estimated 40,000 new jobs expected to be created in this part of the peninsula during the next few years, that may be reason enough to justify multiple gourmet ice cream shops.
“A group of six people could come in, and three will get ice cream from the business down the street, while three will want something from us.”
All that tech business aside, at its heart, Palo Alto is still a college town. Stanford University’s student body makes up about a quarter of the town’s total population. And 24% of those students are international. That’s a lot of diversity to add to the community. With so many different cultures and tastes, more variety can be justified—these young adults are more apt to try new things, food included. Nitrogen-frozen artisanal thai-iced-tea-flavored gelato, anyone?
Palo Alto is also home to some of the highest real estate prices in the country. Plenty of affluent families have put down roots here, resulting in a close-knit community. At Rick’s Rather Rich Ice Cream in Palo Alto, current owner Akansha (Kiki) Khosla knows the value of a loyal customer base; many of her customers have been coming to Rick’s since it opened in the 1960s.
“You’d be surprised,” she said. “When I first bought the place nine years ago, I thought people would want something super-modern and techy. It’s not like that. I feel like a lot of customers love this place because it hasn’t changed much. They crave things that are new, but also old-fashioned things.”
Em Wu, the co-owner of Scoop Microcreamery, believes that the constant flow of people plays a large part. “There may be a lot of competition, but everybody likes something different,” she told us. “A group of six people could come in, and three will get ice cream from the business down the street, while three will want something from us.”
It’s a tough job, but I decided to visit the seven artisanal Palo Alto ice cream shops to delve further into how shops here differentiate themselves from the competition. I didn’t include any places that specialize in a variation of an ice cream or gelato dessert, such as ice cream sandwiches or Thai-rolled ice cream. That would would just be overkill.
Gelataio
Started by Chris Mares five years ago, Gelataio recently added another location in San Carlos. The Palo Alto location is the original. It’s half store, half production facility, where Mares and her staff make all the gelatos and chocolate-dipped gelato popsicles. They use local, organic ingredients when possible and stay away from using anything artificial. Gelataio’s aesthetic is clean and minimalist, making it feel more like a sophisticated cafe than an ice cream shop. Mares refers to her shops as “studios.” Flavor combinations include pear Riesling and hibiscus pineapple.
121 Lytton Avenue | gelataio.us
Gelato Classico
This tiny shop is one of a few Bay Area locations that sells Gelato Classico, a local brand of gelatos and sorbettos manufactured in Concord. The brand has been around since 1976, and it isn’t in the business of reinventing the gelato wheel, so it sticks with classic flavors. It’s the kind of place where you’d come in for an espresso, then opt for a scoop of gelato as well.
435 Emerson Street | caffeclassicofoods.com
Morsey’s Farmhouse Creamery
As the new kid on the block, Morsey’s offers an unusual ingredient: water buffalo milk sourced from its own farm in Sacramento. The buffalo milk makes Morsey’s gelato creamier and richer than ice cream made with cow’s milk; there’s also more than double the calcium, more protein, and less cholesterol. Not only do owners Yulia and Kal Morsey operate their restaurant and creamery in Palo Alto, but also they live in the peninsula, so they’re personally invested in the area. “We’ve lived the good life here in the community for years,” Yulia says. “I love seeing the reaction on the faces of the people that we share our gelato with. It’s such a joy.”
125 University Avenue, Suite 120 | morseyscreamery.com
Rick’s Rather Rich Ice Cream
This Palo Alto institution has seen five different owners since Rick Payne opened the shop nearly 60 years ago, yet it has stayed unchanged throughout the years. Rick’s nails the classic ice cream parlor feel, complete with bright-yellow walls and cow-themed tchotchkes with quaint sayings like “Life’s uncertain… Eat ice cream first!” But don’t let that fool you.
Using Rick’s original recipes, owner Kiki and the staff make each of the 48 flavors in small batches and are constantly adding more. Customer suggestions have resulted in unusual flavors such as kulfi (a common Indian dessert), Blue Moon (a Midwest cult classic that tastes like Fruit Loops), saffron pistachio, and six different varieties of chocolate on any given day.
Rick’s is now a community fixture. “People have stories of when they came here when they were kids and how they bring their grandchildren now,” Kiki says. “That’s what I really love about this place.”
3946 Middlefield Road | ricksicecream.com
Salt & Straw
If you’re an adventurous eater, this is the place for you. In just eight years, this Portland, Oregon, original has expanded into an ice cream empire, with 19 stores along the West Coast. When Salt &Straw opens a new store, it insists on using locally available premium ingredients. For its Bay Area locations, the company works with Dandelion Chocolate, Cowgirl Creamery, and Sightglass Coffee, all based in San Francisco. Salt & Straw is known for its weird and wacky flavor combinations, which change frequently. On my last visit to the Palo Alto location, I spotted such flavors as Freckled Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Caramel Corn on the Cob, and Tomato Strawberry sorbet.
250 University Avenue, Suite 110 | saltandstraw.com
Scoop Microcreamery
“I admit it — I’m an ice cream snob,” says Em Wu, who co-owns Scoop Microcreamery with her dad, Robert Lee. With his previous culinary experience in Asia, Robert is the one who works behind the counter, making their small-batch ice creams. The creamery uses liquid nitrogen to quickly freeze the ice cream base and create less ice in the final product. Aside from being a dramatic way to make ice cream, the process results in a product that is richer, creamier, and denser than your average store-bought version.
Em and Robert also don’t use fillers and stabilizers, such as guar gum, a common additive used to help ice cream thicken and hold its shape. “We’re honest about what we use to make our ice cream,” Em says, “and I think our customers can taste the difference.” Popular flavors include Thai Iced Tea and Speculicious, a rich cream-flavored base with crunchy gingerbread-cookie bits.
Although the shop is only five years old, Em believes that community involvement is key to their staying power. “The locals know us. We participate in fundraisers and local events,” she explains. “We’re part of the community, and we want to be. We know there’s a lot of competition, but it makes us try harder. We don’t cut corners; we just try to do our best.”
203 University Avenue #1712 | scoopmicrocreamery.com
Tin Pot Creamery
In 2012, Becky Sunseri, a former pastry chef for Facebook, and an anonymous business partner started their company as a mail-order ice cream service in Palo Alto. Today, this location remains the original brick-and-mortar store, but Sunseri and her partner have now expanded to five locations, with the latest at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Using organic and local ingredients, Tin Pot Creamery makes French-style ice creams, using egg yolks to impart a custard-like taste and texture. It also uses a machine that incorporates more air into the final product, which makes it creamier and denser. My favorites are the Blue Jasmine (a rich yet light floral tea flavor) and Pink Dragon Pineapple Sherbet (bold yet refreshing).
855 El Camino Real #121 | tinpotcreamery.com
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