Humphry Slo-what?

There's a new ice cream shop in town named after characters from BBC's Are You Being Served? - Humphry Slocombe. Since it was opened by Jake Godby, a former pastry chef at Coi, it's obvious to expect the unexpected, and their line-up already lists a ton of bold and arresting flavors. There's a really great interview of him at 7x7. I don't really know if "ice cream is the new cupcake," since it's not really a trend (although there was a huge gelato fad back in the early 2000's). Plus, most of the establishments he listed have been doing business for quite some time.

Since it's still so new, they are only offering a limited selection, but people are already starting the Mitchell's/Bi-rite/Sketch/Ici comparisons. What did I think? I really enjoyed how "daring" the flavors were. The textures differed between the flavors, but that's as to be expected when using different ingredients (see Michael Laiskonis' lastest blog post). We ended up trying practically all they had to offer that day: we sampled the balsamic caramel, "secret breakfast," blue bottle vietnamese coffee, thai chili lime sorbet, malted dulce de leche... and I think that's it.

Both Stacy and I ended up getting the combo of the first two. The balsamic caramel was really balsamic-y which was almost gross, but quite perfect. The texture was very smooth and melty, too. The "secret breakfast" was like a morning meal for adults - bourbon ice cream with candied cornflakes. While I really liked the boozey cereal flavor, the cornflakes were mostly tiny bits, with maybe one random chunk. They weren't crunchy either, as to be expected since they get soggy so easily, even if they are candied. It was still yummy though.

Will definitely return! I really appreciate their innovative flavors, and even though they might not all work, they're definitely worth trying.