Dream Team
The secret weapon might be ice cream chef Nate Mickelson. A veteran chef in the Twin Cities, he’s been part of the opening teams for both Milkjam Creamery and Bebe Zito. He’s also the one who suggested the Travailians should do an ice cream ghost kitchen. When the BBQ spot closed, they all decided they could do better than a ghost kitchen.
Gaming It
The nostalgia vibe is clear with the 8-bit pixilation of names and the hot pink neon. It all nods to the Nintendo life that Mickelson lived as a kid.
It’s Not All Scoops
The menu here includes a killer smash burger, made Oklahoma-style with onions. There’s also a fresh lobster and shrimp roll brimming out of a toasted bread pocket, french fries, and cheese curds with Cry Baby Craig’s dipping ranch.
What’s the Scoop?
Hard-pack ice cream is all made in-house. Flavors range from the fan favorite Lemon Blueberry Butter Cake to Peanut Butter and Oreo and Grandma Jean’s Oatmeal Cookies. Flavors may come and go, so check for Puttin on the Ritz, which combines peanut butter ice cream with caramelized Ritz crackers, like those snack packs you so wanted your mom to buy.
Feeling Like a Kid Again?
Flavors like Cereal Milk, made with Fruity Pebbles and Froot Loops, play to memories of carefree childhood summer days. One of Mickelson’s favorite flavors is an homage to his sister. “Movies with Shannon calls back to the first time my sister brought me to a movie,” he says. “She walked up to the concession booth and asked that they layer Milk Duds into the buttered popcorn while filling her bucket. I was in awe of her. So now we make a buttered popcorn base and weave in ribbons of caramel with chocolate chunks.”
Hot Spot
“I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 15 years, and while there is a DQ down the road, there’s not really an ice cream scoop shop. This area has a ton of young families, and we want to be a place they can walk to and hang out.” The small shop has no indoor seating, but there are plenty of picnic tables in the yard.
Stephanie March
Food and Dining editor Stephanie March writes and edits Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s Eat + Drink section. She can also be heard Saturdays on her myTalk107.1 radio show, Weekly Dish, where she talks about the Twin Cities food scene.
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August 10, 2022
6:56 AM