As you know, Bluebird Ice Cream is coming to Fremont. We had a chance to speak with owner Josh Kessler-Reynolds about the store, how they plan to work with other Fremont businesses and what kind of yummy goodness we can expect.
Why did you choose Fremont for your 2nd shop?
Fremont is the Center of the Universe, right? Apart from that, it’s just such a dynamic neighborhood. I can tell you that when friends and family visit, my girlfriend and I always include an afternoon in Fremont as one of the stops. The neighborhood just seems to offer a lot. From a more specific business perspective, the new neighbors [Hotel Hotel, Pie, Dubliner, etc.]…provide a fantastic compliments to Bluebird Ice Cream.
On the kind on ingredients Bluebird uses...
For those unfamiliar with Bluebird: it’s small batch, locally-sourced, artisan ice cream. We strive to make all of our flavors the-best-you’ve-ever-had: If you try a sample, you’ll want a full scoop. We source locally, taking advantage of our natural surroundings (like fruit from Remlinger Farms) as well as the wealth of like-minded artisan food makers in Seattle (Elysian Stout ice cream, anyone?) It’s ice cream made from local dairy, with all-natural and organic ingredients.
Along with Theo, who provides Bluebird with their chocolate, what other Fremont businesses do you plan to work with?
We love Theo. There are more special collaborations in the works between us. Pie and Ice Cream is an obvious match, so I would hope for some exciting things to happen between our two businesses. We’ve done some stuff with Homegrown, and I consider those guys to be great colleagues of mine. I hope for further collaboration and cross promotion in the future. Caffe Vita just up the street will be collaborating with us, and next door to that Bluebird Ice Cream will soon be available at all Via Tribunali locations. When we have our grand opening (Aug 1st? No promises.) We’ve already been discussing with the Pie girls and the guys at the Hotel Hotel hostel upstairs about hosting some kind of block party, along with the Dubliner, so keep your eyes out for that. I’d encourage anyone who has a place that they want to serve Bluebird ice cream to send an email (bluebirdseattle@gmail.com) and we’d love to supply your favorite restaurant, market, or grocery store.
How did things go at the Fremont Fair with your ice cream cart?
The Fremont Fair was quite an experience for us this year, to be selling ice cream. When we rolled out on Saturday morning, in the cold rain, I was certain that we were not going to sell ANY ice cream at all. My expectations were far exceeded, and we did quite well, despite the miserable “summer” weather. We were also able to use the opportunity to let people know we are moving to the neighborhood. Since then, we have been out and about in the neighborhood from time to time on the cart. Follow our Facebook page (http://facebook.com/bluebirdseattle ) to see where we “check-in” for our exact locations. We’ve even strolled down the Burke-Gillman to Ballard and back on sunny afternoons.
On the accolades that Bluebird Ice Cream has received:
We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have received some great press, both locally and nationally. For example, last year MSN featured us on their list of Top 10 indie ice cream shops in the USA, and this year AOL Travel mentioned us at #4 on their best ice cream in the country list. There’s a bit about our PB&J ice cream in this month’s Seattle Magazine, and there’s going to be a feature about us in July’s Sunset Magazine. Seattle Weekly Voracious called ours the best coffee ice cream in Seattle. We’re only two years old, so we’re extremely humbled by all the praise.
Thanks for the time, Josh, and welcome to the neighborhood. You can follow along with Bluebird as they get settled in over at Twitter and Facebook.