At Rasarumah, Johnny Lee has taken the decision fatigue out of ordering dessert. The Cendol Sundae at his Los Angeles restaurant is one of just two options. The satisfyingly savory dessert emerges in a retro glass with contrasting layers of coconut-pandan ice cream, neon green pandan jelly noodles, clusters of sweet red beans, dark and rich gula melaka syrup, and a sprinkle of puffed rice.
The crunchy rice and springy jelly noodles play strong supporting roles, but the star is a snow-white scoop of coconut-pandan ice cream made by 626 Hospitality Group, a nearby soft-serve shop. “When we were coming up with an idea for a dessert, I knew it would likely be ice cream based since we don’t have a dedicated pastry chef,” Lee says. It just so happened that 626’s coconut-pandan ice cream fit Lee’s vision for the dish.
At a wide range of buzzy, ambitious restaurants, ice cream is the dessert of choice these days. It’s a blank slate for chefs to express their creativity, but it’s also a sign of our economic times when razor-thin margins have forced kitchens to forego pastry chefs, making complex, labor-intensive desserts a more challenging proposition. Whether it’s outsourced or churned in-house, ice cream is a convenient and crowd-pleasing way to round out the meal. Diners rarely complain about a good, simple scoop.
Rasarumah isn’t the only restaurant collaborating with a local expert for its ice cream operation. In Minneapolis, the scoops of mango and toasted milk ice creams at the Hmong restaurant Vinai are churned at nearby FrioFrio. The collaboration has proven to be a win-win: Vinai gets signature flavors from a beloved local ice cream shop, and both businesses are able to extend their reach to new customers.
“We could try to make an ice cream here at Vinai, or we can collaborate with our friends,” chef Yia Vang says of the partnership with FrioFrio owners Katy Gerdes and Chris Weber. “We sat with Chris and tasted 20 different ice cream flavors, narrowed it down to two that would complement our desserts, and went with it.”
Even in the biting cold of Detroit winter, Tajin-dusted mango sorbete or dulce de leche soft-serve are the only desserts served at the Argentinian restaurant Puma. Diners only have to choose whether to add a shot of rum or whisky to their dulce de leche ice cream.
At Smithereens in New York’s East Village, a celery float has been on the menu since opening day in late 2024. In the float, celery root ice cream is drizzled with coffee oil, topped with red wine vinegar and shio koji-marinated cherries, and spritzed with a homemade celery soda. “I’ve found that some guests aren’t willing to take a risk by ordering a ‘weird’ entree,” chef-owner Nick Tamburo says, “but when it comes to dessert, they are more open to going outside their comfort zone.”
The ice cream boom extends beyond restaurants. Wine bars like Lai Rai in New York and Bar Chenin in Detroit are following the model of Folderol in Paris, the chic wine bar where natural wine is served alongside cold brew or basil chocolate chip ice cream in retro silver coupes. At Lai Rai, diners pair creamy scoops of avocado or toasty banana leaf with the bar’s mostly French and Italian natural wine list.
In creative ice cream, chefs and restaurateurs have found low labor and high reward. Diners, it seems, have no complaints.