Visions of the Perfect Ice Cream Sandwich

July 15, 2006 at 11:17 pm by Olivia · Filed under Edibles

How good do these look?

Filling an entire glossy page in the oversize San Francisco Magazine (July, ‘06) and accompanied by a blurb about how the custardy, seasonal fruit ice creams are perfectly mated with fresh-baked cookies by a Chez Panisse alumna, we couldn’t help drooling, or planning a pilgrimage.

We fought through the East Bay’s SF-bound weekend traffic to make our way to Ici, but instead of being rewarded with perfect ice cream sandwiches, we found only this sign:

Opening in early August.

Didn’t anyone tell them that ice cream season is now?! Or that we were counting on sampling both July’s berry flavors and August’s stone fruits this year, as SF Magazine had casually implied we should? We were devastated.

Now I may have no choice but to buy my own ice cream maker… Damn that glossy picture and Ici’s quick-draw PR rep.

That sign — hopefully to be replaced with something more than just visions of the perfect ice cream sandwich — is located at 2948 College Avenue in Berkeley, California.

Photo from July’s San Francisco Magazine, reprinted on their website.

  • ok so ICI is now officially open and i love it, its been open since early september. It really is good flavor and what i really like is how almost everything they use is biodegradable. like their cups are actually made out of corn so they break down instead of plastic and they make the ice cream completely from scratch, like from the eggs and pumpkins there scratch, its incredible, really good ice cream, bombes and ice cream sandwiches. they change flavors fairly often to keep everything fresh so stop in sometime! i love it
  • juan carlos
    I've been checking out ici-icecream.com, they still say early august, it's almost mid august now!
  • My email to San Francisco Magazine got these very prompt responses:


    So sorry about the inconvenience. When we researched the item, the food editor tested the food, and the owner of the shop assured us it would be open by July. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Our apologies. --Peggy


    And an email from Jan Newberry herself:


    Oliva,

    So sorry to hear about your unrequited quest for ice-cream sandwiches at Ici. At press time the owners assured us that they would be open by the end of June. But then real life and construction plans intervened and as you so painfully discovered, the store has yet to open. I tasted the ice-cream sandwiches and they are wonderful. When Ici finally does open its door, I'm sure you'll agree that they are worth the wait.

    Best,
    Jan Newberry
    Food and Wine Editor


    Very fair, and all too familiar when construction is involved. That's all the more reason to make some mention in the future that a place is brand new and not just new to me. I'll also be more conscienscious about calling first.
  • Nancy
    So glad to read this. I thought I was losing my touch.

    I live in the area and didn't take the address with me, but I really didn't think I could be missing something so sumptuous continually. And I hadn't know it "existed" until reading the magazine. I felt shame.

    Now I am redeemed.
  • Thanks for visiting, Tommy. I'm glad I could spare you the dissapointment. We're still sad, especially in this heat wave!

    When you do make it to Ici, please let me know what you think!
  • I was just got San Francisco magazine's "best of" issue last night and was about to head over there for some snazzy ice creamy goodness when I saw your post. I am so sad that I'll have to wait a couple more weeks to try this place out....se la vie
blog comments powered by Disqus