With our churned-to-order scoops and patented, liquid nitrogen-enabled technology, Wired has deemed us “the Blue Bottle of ice cream.”
Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired
HOW SILICON VALLEY PERFECTED ICE CREAM
WIRED, JUNE 2013
by Michael Copeland
“There is very good ice cream in New York. Which made it all the more impressive that Joe Brent was standing in line, insulated bag in hand, at a San Francisco ice cream shop called Smitten. He ordered two pints to go – one vanilla, the other salted caramel – for the five-plus hour trip back East. “It’s for my wife,” Brent, who was in town playing mandolin with the San Francisco Symphony (Stravinsky piece) said. “We think it’s the best ice cream in the world.”
Smitten founder Robyn Sue Fisher smiled broadly at hearing the unprompted testimonial. Making the best ice cream in the world was exactly her goal when she left Stanford’s Graduate School of Business a few years back. Based on the line that snaked out the door on a recent visit to Smitten’s Hayes Valley outpost, and the 17,000 people they serve a month, she’s on her way.
With some engineering help, Fisher, 34, has developed a machine that uses liquid nitrogen, two interlocking helical-shaped scrapers and some smart software to make on-demand portions of ice cream in 60 to 90 seconds. And it is stunningly good…
Wired Business caught up with Fisher to talk about eating ice cream for breakfast; what she didn’t learn in grad school; and why making good ice cream is all about the ice crystals.”
Check out the full Wired article here: How Silicon Valley Perfected Ice Cream.