Everyone loves ice cream, and all the better when it incorporates components that amp up the science “wow” factor in a big and fun show. Around here, that means Robyn Sue Fisher, who is the founder of Smitten Ice Cream, started out of an (adorable) red Radio Flyer wagon. She's outgrew the wagon, though, and set up shop in a stylish shipping container in Hayes Valley. Fisher has now expanded and recently opened a new outpost of Smitten in the Whole Foods Market in Los Altos and has plans to open in Rockridge in April and Lafayette further east in May.
At Smitten, Fisher and her crew of Brristas create velvety creamy batches of remarkably tasty desserts in a matter of three minutes with the use of liquid nitrogen. For many, the show is as much fun as eating the results. There are gourmet flavors from salted caramel (still very much a trend) to the seasonal blood orange with pistachio shortbread to Meyer lemon to fresh mint that is miles away from the bright green sweets of yesteryear. Bay Area Bites caught up with Fisher to find out what’s new and what’s in store for ice cream (and science) fans.
Bay Area Bites: Congratulations on opening in Los Altos. Next, you’ll have spots in Rockridge & Lafayette. What has the expansion process been like?
Fisher: It's been really exciting. We have built an awesome team to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row. We have been working for several years on our next generation Brrr(TM) machine -- our one-of-a-kind patented ice cream churning machine that makes ice cream with liquid nitrogen to create the freshest and smoothest ice cream on earth. And we'll have six of these Brrr machines in each new location so that we can have six made-to-order flavors each day, rather than four at Hayes Valley. Our amazing pastry chef, Robyn Lenzi, has also been working on some fun and super tasty new products, such as our Brrrgers (i.e., homemade Brioche ice cream sandwiches, which look like mini ice cream burgers).
We have also been working with an awesome team of architects to design our new locations so that they have a really unique and special feel -- sticking with our roots but taking it one step further and bringing it to a brick and mortar location. The new Smitten Ice Cream shops definitely make the Hayes Valley location look like a kiosk, as the new shops are more than three times bigger and are ready to make even more people smitten with made-to-order scoops and homemade pairings (i.e., toppings)!
