OUR MAKERS
Smitten® is lady-led, with ice cream fanatic and inventor, Robyn Sue Fisher, and culinary extraordinaire, Brooke Mosley, at its helm.
ROBYN SUE FISHER, FOUNDER & CEO
Robyn Sue has spent the last 13 years (since 2007!) conceiving of and developing Smitten Ice Cream. In her ‘prior life’, she was a management consultant in the U.S. and Europe and became known for her ability to invent new ways of solving problems (i.e., developing Intellectual Property). Robyn received her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and applied her knack for invention and her love of ice cream into ‘reengineering ice cream from the ground up.’ She immersed herself in all things ice cream (including going to Ice Cream School at Penn State) and was increasingly bothered by the modern industry’s complicated ingredients and focus on shelf-life.
In true Robyn fashion, she decided to solve the problem herself and invent a new way to make ‘new, old-fashioned’ ice cream: using technology to make food pure, fresh and real in a way that works for the modern day consumer. She worked for two years with a retired aerospace engineer in a basement workshop to develop her prototype Brrr® ice cream machine, which could churn fresh ice cream in 90 seconds with its interlocking beaters and viscosity-measuring technology to ensure the perfect texture. By rapidly freezing pint-sized batches of ice cream fresh-to-order, Robyn Sue could bring to life her dream of turning ice cream into a fresh food, as it should be. Moreover, by perfecting the process of using liquid nitrogen to freeze ice cream, Robyn Sue sought to produce a higher quality of ice cream than ever before: ice cream with exceptionally small ice crystals and minimal over-run (or air whipped in), resulting in a superior mouthfeel and richness in flavor. (Think of the best gelato you ever had and then multiply that by 10!)
Then, amidst the recession of 2009, she humbly launched her makeshift fresh-churned ice cream cart — placing her hand-welded Brrr® machine bungee-corded to a milkcrate atop a red Radio Flyer® wagon — and tweeted her location (Precita Park, San Francisco), the flavor of the day (Salted Caramel) and added the famous last words, “Come and get it before I sell out or before the cops find me.” The rest, is herstory.
She is now an Inventor on 6 patents, having written most of the original provisional patents herself with patent books borrowed from her then boyfriend, now husband, Tobin.
Robyn grew up bi-coastal, in Massachusetts and the Bay Area, then got her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Williams College while also playing shooting guard on the varsity basketball team (she is just a wee bit competitive ;). She is now proud to live in San Francisco with her husband and her two boys, Dash and Alden. She can often be seen on her bike, as this is her primary means of transportation (even up San Francisco hills!). Robyn’s favorite Smitten Ice Cream flavor is Blood Orange with Pistachio Shortbread.
BROOKE MOSLEY, CULINARY DIRECTOR
Brooke Mosley, our Culinary Director (AKA our incredible chef), joined the Smitten team in 2017 after a nearly year-long culinary courtship with our founder, Robyn Sue Fisher. Robyn was in awe of Brooke’s incredible spirit and of course her amazing ability to bring thoughtful and delicious flavors to life. Brooke’s process for selecting ingredients and developing new flavors by “listening to the season and their environment and paying attention to the community and what interests people” is what Smitten’s all about.
Brooke has a fine-dining background, having worked alongside some of the best chefs at the most beloved restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco (Suzanne Goin, Neal Fraser, The Tasting Kitchen, Outerlands).
Here are some of Brooke’s favorite flavor combinations in the galaxy:
- Passionfruit, Browned Butter and Cacao
- Roasted Strawberry, Toasted Black Sesame and Kalamata Olives
- Toasted Cashews, Black Garlic and Miso Butterscotch
- Early Girl Tomatoes, Vanilla, Goat Milk, Pistachio
- Labneh, Candied Walnut, Quince and Basil