First Bite: Greene Grape Scoops Is Open. Bring On The Ice Cream!
We all scream for ice cream!
Greene Grape Scoops is open at long last, just in time for cold summer treats. The shop, part of the eponymous Greene Grape mini-empire, opened its doors at 680 Fulton Street today (Wednesday, June 24) at 3pm to much excitement and many ice cream mustache smiles.
“It’s fantastic and unexpected,” said one of the shop’s first customers, Stephanie Imbeau, of her Greene Grape Sundae. “Just the rosemary and olive oil with the ice cream and grapes made it stand out.”
The opening is just a soft open — the grand opening is next Wednesday, July 1 — but pretty much everything is already in place, from the eight flavors (which will rotate whenever each batch is eaten, and can be purchased by the pint across the street at Greene Grape Provisions) to the sundae and float combos dreamed up by pastry Jared Rubin, and the faux grass window seats and beautifully-drawn signs to the shelf of toys.
“We want to encourage families to come, get an ice cream for the kids, grab a water for mom or dad, and then take a Frisbee or tennis ball to the park,” said Carla Bueno, who staffs the shop along with fellow Greene Grape veteran Allison Person.
Right now, flavors are Blue Marble’s salted caramel and strawberry; Phin & Phebes’ Vietnamese iced coffee, peanutty pretzel, and coconut key lime; and Adirondack Creamery’s chocolate, vanilla, and Whiteface mint chip.
Of the core flavors: the strawberry is strong and tastes of fresh fruit, the vanilla of classic milkiness and vanilla bean, the chocolate of somewhere in between fudge and lightly creamy milk chocolate.
Of the unique flavors, the peanutty pretzel is appropriately savory and salty, the coconut key lime pleasantly not overly acid thanks to the balance of coconut, the Vietnamese iced tea strongly of coffee, the whiteface mint chip making it seem like toothpaste might actually be wonderfully edible, and the salted caramel so decadent we kind of felt like falling asleep with spoonfuls of it next to us.
There’s also soft serve, currently only in vanilla, but eventually also with roasted strawberry and other flavors. Keeping with the local ingredient aim, Ronnybrook Farms milk is used for this.
La Newyorkina ices are also available in a variety of flavors.
One scoop is $3.50, two scoops $4.25, sundaes and floats $6.50, and soft serve $3/$3.75 for small/large. You can also get toppings for 50 cents each, and different cones: cake or waffle for 50 cents and gluten free for $1.50.
Hours are from 3-9pm through June 30, and 12-10pm beginning July 1.
