There’s absolute magic in having ice cream first.
It was March of 2020 and everyone was coping with the fact that were locked down in our homes. What we’ve known as our normal, everyday life was blowing up. As a creative director working downtown, I was now working at my kitchen counter every day. And as a group fitness instructor teaching at our local gym four times a week, I was now wondering what to do in the evenings since I wasn’t kicking and punching air. I was looking for things — anything — that would give me a semblance of normal in a time that was becoming anything but, while also finding ways to support our local businesses in our neighborhood. So I was on a hunt for ice cream. So where would I find that handcrafted ice cream near me? Where could I find handcrafted ice cream with Filipino flavors near me?
I had a vision for myself and for my community: make homemade, handcrafted ice cream inspired by my Filipino-background that balances authentic flavors with familiar ones. Highlighting flavors I grew up with like Ube and Mango, and tapping into my own childhood favorites like cookies and cream and a mango icebox cake that my mom would made, I crafted our most popular — and top selling — super-premium, Philadelphia-style ice creams: Ube Bae, Ube Bae Oreo, and Mango Float.
Small online orders grew to bigger online orders. Delivery zones went from my neighborhood to all across Chicago. One pop-up opened the doors to so many opportunities since we started, all with our mission in mind: To create incredible ice cream that makes people feel really good, and serve flavors that connect people to a new place or takes them back to a familiar one.