Ice Cream Chronicles (Pt. 9): The Little Shoppe That Could

One thing I started noticing recently during my current summer ice cream crawl is that all the places I've visited were all fairly well established. Whit's Frozen Custard, covered in my last ice cream blogpost, is the youngest of the lot with just over a decade in existence. On the other end of the timescale, Graeter's Ice Cream has roots back to the late 1800s.

This made me think to myself: were there any newcomers around this area trying to make a dent in an area some have called the Capital of Ice Cream?

Enter in The Little Ice Cream Shoppe of Hilliard, a family-owned ice cream purveyor in the vein of the previously visited Mardi Gras which officially opened up for business at the doorstep of winter in December 2012.

This place is somewhat easy to miss upon first drive by: the store's sign doesn't really stand out against the somewhat non-descript exterior brick inlay which their resident Tinapple Mall sports. However, this bland exterior gives way to a neatly manicured but not uber-fancy interior that still hints at this business's still relatively new arrival onto the scene. This interior seems to have enough space to host a fairly decently sized birthday get-together or similar event.

Ice cream flavors (the Shoppe sports 24 at any one time) are written freehand right on the glass display cases, which works in concert with similarly-styled artwork on the front windows. Sundaes are the main focus of the menu, with  floats and shakes also available as options. A freezer with pre-packaged pints is also available who need their ice cream on the go.

Flavors seem mainly oriented to kid-oriented palates with a few flavors geared to more "adult" palates (i.e. Dark Chocolate and Espresso Chip.) Some flavors have already become standards such as The Cat's Meow (I missed this one in my initial viewing) and Superman (a melange of various berry flavors and related colors that I'm thinking is a kid favorite.)

After a sampling of the latter and the Pistachio Almond, and not seeing my standard Butter Pecan available, I went on a whim and went with one scoop each of the Coconut Almond Chip and Dulce de Leche ($3.99.) The former was my favorite of the two, sporting a similar texture to the ice creams I had at Bexley's Johnson's Real Ice Cream. The Dulce de Leche might be a little sweet for some tastes, but did sport a lighter and creamier mouth feel with nice swirls of caramel within the base.

For me, The Little Ice Cream Shoppe is geared toward the kids and those families with kids. This has been a tried-and-true strategy for almost all ice cream places past and present, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. What may make the Shoppe become a long-term member of the ice cream society in the Columbus metro area lie as much with the product (solidly good, but not spectacular and/or gourmet based on my first tastings) as it does with another equally important aspect: the people associated with the product.

My visit took place during a lull in the foot traffic, and shortly after I had settled down at my seat to eat my scoops, the only person left in there was my server. Frankly, I would've been just fine with finishing my ice cream by my lonesome for my time there, but my server was intent on putting a friendly foot forward. For the next fifteen minutes or so, I engaged in a completely (and pleasantly) unexpected conversation with this young man while I ate my sweet treat.

I noticed a recent Facebook post from the business thanking their workers who were returning back to school (this young man would be included in this group.) If this server is typical of the friendliness of people associated with The Little Ice Cream Shoppe, I would say this aspect, combined with that initial passion to start from scratch and the production of solid quality ice cream, tilts their odds of reaching that previously mentioned decade mark in their favor.

The Little Ice Cream Shoppe
3229 Hilliard-Rome Rd (Google Maps)
Hilliard, OH 43026
(614) 563-3485
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Ice Cream Chronicles (Pt. 8): At Whit's End

Custard is essentially ice cream's creamier cousin, a texture that is achieved mainly through the addition of egg yolks to the mix. Generally speaking, this was something that was pretty much unknown to me throughout my life. Regular and soft serve ice cream, and in my latter California days, frozen yogurt, sorbet and gelato were in the rotation when I wanted a frozen treat of some sort.

Columbus, as it turns out, has a several options for custard, including Pennsylvania-based Rita's (who are more well known for their Italian ices) and Culver's out of Wisconsin. But really, these ice cream chronicles have focused in on Ohio mainly, and there's no better candidate for a visit in this category than Granville-based Whit's.

Whit's is a relative newcomer, having reached it's 10th anniversary as a company just last year, and sports 22 locations mainly in Ohio (singular stores can also be found in Asheville, NC, and Atlantic Beach, FL.) in the Columbus metro area, the company has outposts in Gahanna, Dublin, Hilliard and the Short North neighborhood, which is where I dropped by one recent early evening.

Only four flavors, but lots of things you can do with them

Unlike your typical ice cream shop that boasts a lot of flavors, Whit's goes in the opposite direction. Their custards are made fresh daily Vanilla and chocolate are their standard everyday flavors; in addition, they boast both a weekly flavor and a flavor of the day. If someone's favorite flavor is not featured, they can more likely than not find it in pre-packaged pints in their freezer; cakes are also available for toting home.

Customers can take the in-store flavors and request all the usuals (sundaes, blends, etc.) One particular local option that stood out was the ability to blend your custard with the delicious brownies and blondies of locally-based Sugardaddy's. Also, a few non-custard food items like hot dogs and a couple of sandwiches (pulled pork and shredded chicken) are available at inexpensive prices (from $1.50 to $3.50.)

With butter pecan only available in a take home pint, I went two scoops ($4.25) for one of the limited-time flavors (black cherry chip) and the always offered vanilla in a cup. 

The custard at first glance looked like regular ice cream, but the mouthfeel immediately told me this was a different beast altogether. As I slowly devoured my scoops, I began thinking how all the soft-serve cones I have eaten in my life would've been so much tastier if Whit's was the source.

As for my choices, black cherry chip will please fans of the flavor with its plentiful chocolate chips and juicy cherry halves. The vanilla was solid; I thought, similar to a good basic frozen yogurt tart flavor, it provided great base for any of the blends, sundaes and creations on Whit's menu.

Whit's Short North store blends in nicely with the neighborhood vibe, with a relaxed yet funkified interior (including a graffiti-version company logo and assorted pop-culture references) and flyers and other printed information for nearby events available.

Whit's has definitely turned me on to the world of frozen custard based on this first sampling. I look forward to going back not only to sample more of their offerings, but also to compare and contrast that they offer to versions in other parts of the country, including those have popped up in my old Bay Area stomping grounds such as like Lexie's Frozen Custard and Frozen Kuhsterd.

2017 Update: Whit's locations around the metro have changed quite a bit since this post. The Short North location at 814 North High Street (the location I originally visited) and the Dublin location has closed.  Meanwhile, a location farther up in the Clintonville neighborhood has opened and the Hilliard location has relocated. Information regarding this Clintonville location has replaced the original Short North address as originally posted, and other addresses reflect current locations.

Whit's Frozen Custard
3339 N High St (Clintonville - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43202
(614) 754-8062

121 S. Stygler Road (Google Maps)
Gahanna, OH 43230
614-418-9599

46 N, State St (Google Maps)
Westerville, OH 43081
614-799-6003

4138 Main Street (Google Maps)
Hilliard, OH. 43026
614-710-1315
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Comic Belief: The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum

Entrance to the museum at OSU's Sullivant Hall

Comics and the art of cartooning in general has gained some well-deserved attention in recent times as an art form worthy of critical analysis and acclaim. I had known about and visited two institutions in the Bay Area that helped foster and are a sign of this trend: the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa (everything about the author and his Peanuts comics you could ever want) and the Cartoon Art Museum in the South of Market neighborhood (showings from artists past and present that I've found cut across numerous social, pop-culture and cultural genres: both of these places are highly recommended if you travel out to the area.)

The well attired and comfortably roomy exhibition space 

I am delighted to have discovered a wonderful connection to my past stomping grounds in the form of the expanded space that now houses the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, located on the second floor of Sullivant Hall at The Ohio State University. The museum, dedicated to the famed groundbreaking Columbus Dispatch editorial cartoonist, has the largest collection of collected comic and cartoon art in the world, including the formidable contents of the non-profit San Francisco Academy of Comic Art. The Academy had been founded by Bill Blackbeard in the 1960s out of his San Francisco home and its holdings accessible to the public. By the time circumstances forced Blackbeard to reach out to Ohio State to find a home for most of his collection in 1977, his holdings were enough to fill six semi-trailer trucks.

Mrs. 614orty-Niner and I had our first chance to visit the museum recently. While we were here specifically to catch the Calvin and Hobbes exhibition before the end of its run, we came away quite impressed by the museum as a whole.

As I learned more about Bill Watterson, the artist/cartoonist behind perhaps the most famous child and tiger duo ever, the more I came to respect his drive to break the newspaper comic norms of the time and to strive for something much more than just quick throwaway bit of humor wrapped in a doodle. I also admired him for essentially going out on top (though I personally had not detected any quality declines in his comic strip) and, more importantly, on his own terms. I was equally as enthusiastic to see the displays that provided some insight into Mr. Watterson's thinking and other talents as the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips themselves.

Insight into Mr. Watterson's thinking mixed with examples of his talent for painting.

Of course, my spouse and I were among the many people stopping by to relive some warm memories of Calvin and Hobbes themselves for one last time before the exhibition's closing, and there were plenty of strips around for viewing to accomplish this task.

A six-year-old and his tiger - an unstoppable combination

The museum has two rooms dedicated to short-term exhibits, and I admit I was not too familiar with the second featured comic artist, Richard Thompson. However, the museum did a great job of showing the breadth of Thompson's talents, which included illustrations done for the Washington Post and the comic strip Cul de Sac. This comic strip had an abbreviated run (2007 - 2012) that was unfortunately cut short due to the artist's battle with Parkinson's Disease.

Thompson's talents were made more than evident through the museum displays

A third exhibit space in the building acts as something of a "catch-all" room, where one can see a variety of comic art strips, panels and other memorabilia. Slide out drawers and pull-out panel displays cleverly increase the items available for viewing for visitors and adds a bit of personal interactivity with the material. However, the wide breadth of material in this room easily gives the viewer the impression that they are merely scratching the surface of the museum's vast collection.

There are more items than one might think in the museum's "catch-all" area

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum is a no-longer hidden gem that is giving a traditionally under-appreciated art form its just due. While all exhibitions may not have the attraction level that Mr. Watterson's works had during its run, the wide breadth and depth of materials available to the curators should provide assurance for visitors of an educational, worthwhile and most likely fun experience.

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
The Ohio State University
110 Sullivant Hall (Google Maps)
1813 N. High Street
Columbus, OH 43210
(614) 292-0538
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Sandwiches Around The Statehouse: Freshbox Cafe

The cafe's entrance at the Trinity Episcopal Church

The symbiotic relationship that baseball and hot dogs has acquired over the years can easily be attached to lunchtime and sandwiches as well. With downtown Columbus around the Statehouse crawling with thousands of working folks on a typical weekday, plenty of food establishments have this ubiquitous item on their menus. Making this staple item something that stands out from the crowd, however, is something that takes some doing.

One way to distinguish a sandwich is on the culinary side, through the use of exceptional ingredients or a culinary variation (e.g. the Vietnamese bahn mi sandwich.) Another way to make it stand out lies in the people making your meal. It is this latter aspect that puts Freshbox in its own unique downtown lunchtime corner in two different ways.

Freshbox's Purpose Statement

The first of those lies in Freshbox Cafe's location, which resides in a very atypical location: the basement level of the Trinity Episcopal Church at the corner of 3rd and Broad Street in downtown. This location in essence gives away the second unique aspect of Freshbox: the cafe, along with their sister catering business, is owned by Lutheran Social Services, and is meant to offer meaningful employment to Central Ohio residents suffering from poverty and homelessness while giving the people of downtown Columbus
to satisfy their appetites through their food offerings.

The inside of the cafe is bright for a basement level space, dominated by a bright apple green color theme. Enough space and seating is available that one could bring in a nicely-sized group of colleagues for work or business and not feel crowded by lunchtime throngs of people.

The ordering counter and dining space

Freshbox's offers a fairly familiar selection of sandwiches/wraps ($5.79; all these choices come with a side sauce/dressing of some sort) and salads ($6.79). Additionally, a selection of assorted sides (including a soup of the day,) sweets (including a very rich turtle brownie and their signature chocolate-covered Oreo) and drinks (soda pop and bottled water.)

Based on my first few visits, Freshbox appears to be accomplishing their stated mission on both fronts. The employees I've encountered are friendly and service with quick. And while the items I have tried (Spring Turkey Salad, Thai Chicken Wrap and the Napoli Sandwich) wouldn't be considered fancy gourmet creations, they were all freshly made and solidly tasty. Freshbox Cafe will be in my regular rotation of downtown lunchtime spots for the foreseeable future.

2017 Update: Freshbox appears to have gone strictly back into the catering business. For information on how to utilize their catering services, please use the updated social media links below.

Freshbox Cafe
Basement Level of Trinity Episcopal Church
125 E Broad St (Downtown)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 859-9146
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Ice Cream Chronicles (Pt. 7): Love Handel's

The store front in Toledo, Ohio

Mrs. 614orty-Niner and I happened to be on the road in Northwest Ohio when we found out it was National Ice Cream Day. Obviously, it seemed seemed to be a shame on a warm summer day to miss out on some frozen goodness just because we were traveling, so we looked for a solution that wouldn't take us too far out of our way. Luckily for us, Handel's was around to save the day.

Handel's was originally established in 1945 in Youngstown in the northeast portion of Ohio. Alice Handel would produce her ice cream using old-fashioned recipes and fruit from her backyard and sell it out of her husband's gas station. Since then, Handel's has grown to thirty-plus stores spread out across six states, with two of those locations within the Columbus metro area.

Their ice cream has received "Best Of" commendations nationally, including prominent media outlets like People Magazine and USA Today. According to the company website, all of their ice cream and yogurt is produced fresh daily at their stores. The stores themselves have maintained a very distinctively-designed ice cream stand motif, with occasional exterior variations like their stores in California.

Just some of the many flavors available

If you want anything ice cream related, Handel's pretty much has it. Scoops, cones, sundaes, cakes, pies and pre-packaged pints are available, as well as creations like the Hurricane (very much akin to Dairy Queen's Blizzard) and a Handel Pop, which is a scoop of ice cream coated with a hard chocolate shell propped on a wooden stick. Handel's boasts about 100 flavors overall, including limited-edition and seasonal specials and occasional creative names like "Spouse Like A House" (malted vanilla ice cream with chocolate coated pretzels and peanut butter) and "Graham Central Station" (graham cracker ice cream with graham cracker chunks.)

With their sign touting a "Christmas in July" special, my spouse couldn't resist getting one of her favorite flavors, peppermint stick. I went with two scoops, with one of my standards (butter pecan) and one suggested by the friendly young lady manning the store (coffee chocolate chip.)

One thing we noticed immediately was how quickly the ice cream started to melt. Indeed, Handel's is by far the smoothest and creamiest of the ice creams texture-wise that we've had, and the melting only enhanced that mouthfeel.

Soft, smooth and perfectly melty

My spouse very much enjoyed the peppermint stick, but by far the star of the show for both of us was the butter pecan. This version was the definition of why I came to love the flavor so much as a child: big chunks of pecans with a base that combined the right amount of salty with sweet. This version basically blew any of the other butter pecans I have tried recently out of the water. Unfortunately, the coffee chocolate chip, the scoop at the bottom of my bowl, probably got the short shrift; there was nothing wrong with it, but by comparison to the butter pecan, it had no chance to impress.

There's an iconic ice cream picture motif that almost always brings a smile to all: a child enjoying his ice cream, with melted ice cream both coating their lips and cheeks, and little streams of their frozen treat flowing onto the hand grasping the ever-increasingly soggy cone. If I had to pick one ice cream out of those I've tried so far to put on that cone to get outcome, Handel's would be my nominee.

Of course, that's not the only scenario I would personally grab myself a scoop or two of Handel's. I mean, who needs unnecessary limitations in their life?

Handel's Ice Cream (location visited)
5908 W Sylvania Ave (Google Maps)
Toledo, OH 43623
(419) 882-1118

Columbus Metro Locations
5665 Feder Rd (Wexford-Thornapple - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43228
(614) 853-4464

399 West Olentangy St (Google Maps)
Powell, OH 43065
(614) 336-3813
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