Icicles

Icicles’s rolled ice cream

All Rolled Up

On a recent rainy day, when most people yearned for tea in front of a fireplace, a line of people sporting umbrellas and good cheer waited on the sidewalk, pelted with rain. What could compel these people to stand outside on a day like this?

Surprisingly—ice cream. Willow Glen’s newest addition to the fresh food scene is Icicles, offering rolled ice cream, made to order before the customers’ eyes. Fresh cream, eggs, sugar and milk are pasteurized on site every day, creating custard that is poured onto a flat, freezingcold pan. Ingredients such as fresh fruit are added. Then the mixture is chopped, spread wafer-thin and rolled into six rolls and tucked into a cup.

Icicles is the brainchild of Lynda Huynh and Lit Leong, who noticed street vendors selling rolled ice cream while traveling in Thailand. Intrigued, they imported the equipment and began experimenting in their kitchens. After two years, they opened Icicles on Lincoln Avenue in July.

Huynh has been surprised by the seemingly immediate popularity of Icicles, fed by social media posts that customers upload, showing videos of their ice cream being made. The founders already have begun to open additional stores all over the Bay Area.