Take A Sneak Peek At Van Leeuwen Ice Cream In Greenwich

GREENWICH, CT — Ahead of their official opening on Oct. 1, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream held a sneak peak on Thursday night at 375 Greenwich Ave.

Founded in 2008, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream started out of a yellow scoop truck on the streets of New York City by Ben Van Leeuwen, his brother Pete Van Leeuwen and Laura O'Neill.

Their French-style ice cream, which is made with more than double the amount of egg yolks as standard ice cream, quickly gained a loyal following.

There are now 33 scoop shops across the country, and ice cream is available for purchase at grocery stores and through nationwide shipping.

But Greenwich will be the company's first suburban location, and it marks a homecoming for the Van Leeuwen brothers, who are Greenwich natives.

"This is extremely exciting for us to be able to come back here. This is our first suburban shop anywhere. What better place to do it than our hometown?" Pete said.

The expansive menu features more than 30 signature flavors, all made with simple but real ingredients.

Dairy ice cream has just milk, cream, eggs and cane sugar.

Some flavors include honeycomb; pistachio (made with pistachios sourced from Mount Etna in Sicily); marionberry cheesecake (made with vine-ripened berries from Oregon farm partner Stahlbush Island Farms); and Earl Grey tea (made with Rishi Tea).

"It's the cleanest ice cream you'll find," Pete said. "It's very rich and indulgent. This is supposed to be a luxurious experience for people who really want dessert and a good dessert."

Cups, hand-packed pints, and cones (sugar or waffle) are available, in addition to custom sundaes, handmade ice cream sandwiches, root beer floats, milkshakes and hand-packed pints to-go.

There is also an extensive selection of vegan flavors as well, which are made with a blend of cashews, oats, coconut and cocoa butter, which Pete says is a key ingredient.

Customers can choose from a wide range of toppings like hot fudge, salted caramel, whipped cream (vegan option, too), toasted walnuts, honeycomb candy, praline pretzels, cookies & cream crumble, and of course, traditional rainbow or chocolate sprinkles.

Van Leeuwen has teamed up with local French bakery Raphaël's to create a flavor inspired by their canelé pastry - a brown sugar ice cream with vanilla and rum notes with pieces of canelé.

In addition, Van Leeuwen’s fall seasonal specials, pumpkin cheesecake and dark chocolate vegan pumpkin pie, will be available until Dec. 1. Seasonal flavors will rotate.

"We use a lot of the good stuff," Ben explained. "Our ice cream is the highest butter fat, highest egg yolk content, at least that I know of, on the market. On top of that, we're very thoughtfully sourcing delicious ingredients like pistachios from Bronte, Sicily, or valrhona chocolate that's grown in Ecuador, or strawberries that are ripened on the plant in Oregon."

Ben said that right now, his favorite flavor is the praline butter cake.

"It's a sweet cream base with a touch of Mexican vanilla, and we fold in candied pecans from the deep South, and chewy-gooey delicious butter cake made at this wonderfully social-minded bakery called Greyston Bakery in Yonkers, N.Y.," Ben said.

A new flavor, created in partnership with NBA all-star Jimmy Butler, will soon be added to the permanent menu. BIGFACE Coffee Affogato is a sweet cream ice cream, swirled with a cold brew coffee ice cream.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream will employ about 22 people altogether, according to Pete.

Opening day hours will be 12 p.m., to 11 p.m. In celebration of the launch, the shop will offer $1 scoops of all ice cream on opening day from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The scoop shop will be open Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m., and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., on Saturday and Sunday.

To keep up with everything Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, follow the brand on Instagram or visit their website.