What to Eat B'ham: Week of 4/22/18

I'm a sucker for sugar- like I could eat a whole sleeve of Girl Scout cookies and a pint of Ben and Jerry's and a bunch of sour gummy worms and still crave sugar. I am a victim of the sugar industry, and hey, I'm pretty OK with that.

#WTEBham is back this week, covering my favorite topic of all- ice cream!

Big Spoon Creamery

Once upon a time, there was a little pushcart attached to an old-timey bicycle. It was hard to find, but had the BEST ice cream sandwiches in town. Sometimes, you had to trek in the wind and cold to get one of these Sammies, as they're known, but man was it worth it. The cart was so popular, that one day it was replaced with a food truck. Eventually the truck became a brick-and-mortar store that eventually branched into two. This is the brief history of Big Spoon Creamery, which to this day, is my favorite ice cream shop on the planet.

The Sammies

So ice cream sandwiches aren't normally my thing- too much cookie and the ice cream always melts and turns into a mess. However, after trying a Big Spoon Sammie, I have become a convert. 

I have been a fan of these since my freshman year of college, when they were served out of a bicycle cart. The flavors are always changing with the seasons, but I have yet to try a Sammie I haven't liked. My current favorite is their goat cheese and strawberry Sammie (pictured above)-- tart and creamy goat cheese ice cream with strawberry jam swirled in, sandwiched between two brown sugar cookie thins that have the consistency of cookie dough because of how soft they are. It's a match made in heaven.

Honorable mention goes to the classic, which is vanilla bean ice cream (flecked with vanilla) between two massive soft chocolate chip cookies, and the coffee almond toffee. 

Ice cream to die for

Photo courtesy of Big Spoon instagram page

Big Spoon has kind of an old timey/hipstery feel to it when you walk in. The servers are all wearing striped aprons and red bandanas and there is indie music playing. As the night goes on, the line gets longer and longer. While you wait, however, you can watch employees making the ice cream cones and you can sample flavors. Like all of them if you want. I've done it with no shame whatsoever. 

The ice cream itself is extremely decadent. You can tell it is made by people who give a crap about good ice cream. In fact, the owners of the shop met while working at Bottega, a restaurant that is home to a James Beard award winner. 

While there are some common-stays on the menu, most of it changes seasonally, to offer flavors that support local farms and flavors.

There is something for everyone on the menu as well. Big Spoon has vegan options for those who cannot eat dairy.

Other Goodies

Naturally, an ice cream shop is gonna have a good sundae. This shop has a few, ranging from mainstays, to seasonal, and even custom ones. My favorite is still the original- The Big Spoon Sundae (or The Little Spoon for the weak). It includes chocolate rum brownies, coffee whipped cream, malted fudge, salted caramel, hazelnut croquet, amazing Italian cherries**, and some caramel glass.Bring a friend for this monster, it cannot be finished alone.

**side note, you can get any toppings added to any ice cream. I ball out for these cherries every damn time- they're complex and the sauce they sit in makes all flavors of ice cream taste 10000 times better.  I have friends who swear by the chocolate sauce as well. 

Big Spoon also has milkshakes and floats-- I always promise myself to try a float when I go, but the Sammies are always a distraction.

One of the more unique items on the menu, however, is the Fizzie- it is any flavor of La Croix blended with sorbet of choice. It's super refreshing and a good choice for those pretending they're gonna be healthy at an ice cream shop.

So the verdict?

OK, I'm very biased, as this is my all time favorite ice cream place on the planet, but I say you should go to Big Spoon. Like 5 times a week. Yeah that's right.