Visions of the Perfect Ice Cream Sandwich
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.
Tommy said,
July 22, 2006 @ 1:55 pm
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
Olivia said,
July 23, 2006 @ 7:52 am
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!
Nancy said,
July 23, 2006 @ 6:28 pm
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.
Olivia said,
July 24, 2006 @ 3:29 pm
My email to San Francisco Magazine got these very prompt responses:
And an email from Jan Newberry herself:
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.
juan carlos said,
August 9, 2006 @ 4:06 pm
I’ve been checking out ici-icecream.com, they still say early august, it’s almost mid august now!
Teich.Net :: All In » Is it Ici Yet? said,
September 5, 2006 @ 10:22 am
[...] Today’s Daily Candy SF article “The Straight Scoop” leads me to believe that Ici, inspiration for failed quests, may finally be open. Their website is no help, with the statement “opening late August 2006″ still up on this, the 5th of September, but a quick phone call confirms that they opened their doors this past Sunday. Time for another pilgrimage! Berkeley» Eating Out» Edibles» Gourmet» Ice Cream» [...]
kyle tuominen said,
November 9, 2006 @ 1:27 am
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