Salt & Straw
Samples – Avocado & Strawberry Sherbet, Roasted Strawberry & Toasted White Chocolate, Stumptown Coffee & Compartes Love Nuts
Salted Caramel Cupcake – “salty and sweet, packed full of soggy, crumbly, mushed up cupcake bottoms and handfuls of perfectly-cut-cubes of indulgently frosted cupcake tops” / Pots of Gold & Rainbows – “After meticulously sorting hundreds of pounds of lucky marshmallow “charms” from their less lucky whole grain counterparts, we steep the cereal in cream overnight to get that yummy cereal base. Then, we stir the mallows back in so they can bask in the greatness that is this ice cream!” / Coconut with Petunia’s Salted Caramel Bars – “Creamy coconut ice cream is studded with chunks of Petunia’s salted caramel bars, swirled with streaks of hand-burned caramel and dotted with house-made chocolate ganache”
Continuing a “PDX via LAX” walk down Abbot-Kinney, the line at Blue Star Donuts now rivaling that at Gjelina, it was for March’s selection of throwback flavors that I stood in the fifteen-minute line at Salt & Straw Ice Cream, So. Cal’s second location continuing to yield nothing but industry leading results.
Continuing to offer longterm favorites, the menu slightly different from the Pacific Northwest entirely as a result of local sourcing and unique partnerships, those visiting either Los Angeles storefront are encouraged to investigate options featuring Strawberries and although the Avocado based sorbet surely offered temptation the creativity of specials was simply too strong to be resisted, a three-scoop selection soon nestled in a freshly baked waffle cone.
Cheerful and trendy, scoop-slingers surprisingly well informed while offering sample after sample to the slowly moving line, it should seem obvious that Salt & Straw puts a lot of thought into each batch created given the lengthy descriptions of not just the included ingredients but their purveyors and inspirations, first tastes of “Pots of Gold & Rainbows” more smile-inducing than many any as the laborious process of cereal sorting yields a flavor reminiscent of Saturday Morning Cartoons in the 80s.
Told by a friend that “Salted Caramel Cupcake” should not be missed, the owner’s fondness for soggy birthday cake in pools of ice cream an inspiration for the flavor, suffice it to say that fans of Sprinkles Sundaes are sure to be impressed by this mashed-up iteration, those with dietary restrictions given a tasty bite of their own as silky Coconut Milk finds willing dance partners with salted caramel and chocolate chunks in “Coconut with Petunia’s Salted Caramel Bars.”
www.saltandstraw.com