Owner of Fort Worth pizza fave is about to blast into liquid-nitrogen ice-cream biz
Back in January, we wrote about Creamistry, a liquid-nitrogen ice cream shop coming to Fort Worth's Left Bank shopping center (that's the one with the Tom Thumb and the Hopdoddy Burger Bar off of West Seventh Street). "Coming soon" signs for Creamistry have been up for weeks.
Among the latest in a series of next-wave ice cream shops opening in DFW during the past couple of years, Creamistry is a California-based chain that specializes in liquid-nitrogen ice cream, which is a cool thing to watch being made because it involves freezing the ingredients with liquid nitrogen for that foggy '80s arena-rock effect. The quick-freeze process helps prevent the kind of freezer burn you see when ice cream sticks around too long on grocery-store shelves.
The chain may be based in California, but the location has deep Fort Worth roots: Jordan Scott, the owner of Fort Worth's beloved Mama's Pizza chain, and his wife, Nicole, are franchise partners, along with Wes and Patrice Hall.
Scott took on the Berry Street Mama's after his godfather and mentor, Chris Farkas, died 15 years ago. In 2003, Scott added three locations while also repurchasing the franchise rights that were originally sold in 1999, according to a release.
Jordan Scott and Wes Hall are former Texas Wesleyan University baseball teammates who hung out at the original Mama’s on East Rosedale Street, the release says. Scott enlisted Hall to help in the expansion of Mama's, which has three company stores in Fort Worth and Arlington and three franchise locations elsewhere in Tarrant County. The partners have long wanted to add a high-quality dessert shop and became interested in Creamistry when they discovered it via social media.
According to the Facebook page for an Addison location that opened last year, the ice-cream-making method at Creamistry is similar to other liquid-nitrogen shops: Choose a base (“signature premium” milk; organic milk; coconut milk, which is vegan and gluten-free, or sorbet). Choose a flavor (a big category at Creamistry is cereals, including Cap’n Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Fruity Pebbles and more, but there are other categories as well). Choose toppings (yes, you can have cereal atop your cereal-flavored ice cream, but you also can add candy, sauce or, if you’re feeling virtuous, fruit).
Per the release, Creamistry was founded in 2013 by Jay Yim, who was introduced to liquid-nitrogen ice cream when he spotted a street vendor making it during a trip to South Korea in 2003. Born into a family of Korean bakers, Yim and his wife, Katie, made their first homemade ice cream using liquid nitrogen with the help of his father as the quality control “chemist.” Over the next two years, the team experimented with more than 100 flavors and combinations, the best of which became part of Creamistry’s menu.
The 1,200-square-foot Left Bank store will be at 628 Harrold St., Suite 128, and is expected to open in early May. After a soft opening week, a grand opening celebration will include two hours of free ice cream along with music, a photo booth, games, giveaways and other family-friendly fun. A portion of the proceeds from the opening weeks’ sales will benefit the nonprofit Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County.
That side of Left Bank is already home to 85ºC Bakery and Cafe, which is already a lure to those of us with an overactive sweet tooth, and to a location of MidiCi The Neapolitan Pizza Company.
The West Seventh Area already has one liquid-nitrogen shop, Chills 360, at 1000 Foch St., south of Seventh Street. In Tarrant County, liquid-nitrogen ice cream also is available at SubZero Nitrogen Ice Cream in Hurst.
For updates on the Left Bank Creamistry, follow @creamistryfw on Facebook.
This story was originally published March 21, 2018 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Owner of Fort Worth pizza fave is about to blast into liquid-nitrogen ice-cream biz."