Creations for the connoisseur

NO DOUBT the celebrity snaps on Instagram showing seven and even nine scoops of ice cream perched precariously on a cone are attracting customers to Emack & Bolio’s new outlet at CentralWorld but Benjamin Leiner, who holds the Thai franchise for the American brand, is quick to point out that once you’ve tasted the ice cream, you’ll be back for more. 

“Everybody loves ice cream. It makes people happy. It’s a real food, not a trend,” Leiner says, adding that the brand, which was launched in Boston, Massachusetts back in 1975, has continued to draw consumers because it tastes so good.

“Our super premium ice cream uses real ingredients – real chocolate, real cow’s milk and real cow fats – and I can see a great future for it in Thailand.”

A Boston native, Leiner took almost two years to bring Emack & Bolio’s – or E&B for short – to Thailand. The current two outlets are the first in Asia and join 22 branches in the US and one in Abu Dhabi. The first parlour at Nichada Plaza on Chaeng Wattana Road opened in April and the CentralWorld eatery just last month. 

The 28-square-metre CentralWorld parlour has only a few tables and unlike most other shops, the ice cream is not on display. 

“You won’t see it but you’ll love it. You can try and test every flavour,” adds Leiner. “We’re so serious about the taste of ice cream. Air and light have an effect on the taste. Light causes discoloration and air leads to freezer burn that dilutes the flavour. We keep our ice cream sheltered from light and air in tight compartments to preserve its flavour, colour and texture.”

Leiner says he’s selling some 800 scoops a day at weekends and 500 scoops daily during the week at the new branch alone. That’s good going for ice cream that goes for Bt120 a scoop. Two scoops cost Bt180 and three Bt240. Every three months, about 2,000 tubs of ice cream (one tub can give about 55 scoops) arrive from the US though the waffle cones are made fresh here daily.

“We use the same ingredients and the same recipes but differences in air temperature and water can’t provide the identical flavours. We have to make sure that wherever you eat our ice cream – New York, Boston, Chicago or Bangkok – you get the same experience,” Leiner explains. 

“We don’t use milk from cows injected with genetically-induced hormones. All our flavours are made in the US using 100-per-cent natural cow’s milk. 

So far, Bangkok’s E&B offers 22 outlandish flavours and another eight new flavours will arrive in the next two months. Among them are Deep Purple Cow (black raspberry with white and dark choc chips), Caramel Moose Prints (caramel with mini peanut butter cups), Chunk O Funk (caramel ice cream with Oreos and chocolate covered pretzels), Stoney’s Dream (vanilla ice cream with brownie), and Cookie Monster (vanilla, Oreos and cookie dough). You can have a scoop in a cup or with a waffle cone (for another Bt25), chocolate cone (Bt50) or other special cones like marshmallow, Oreo, coco puffs, froot loops and rice krispy (Bt70 each). 

You can also tuck into a Sundae with one to three scoops (Bt160 to Bt280) topped with hot fudge sauce, whipped cream and candy, nut or Oreo. Perfect for parties and special occasions is the Ice Cream Pizza (Bt1,200) which measures 30 x 30 cm and can be cut into 10 and 12 slices. It boasts a rich brownie crust covered with creamy vanilla speck ice cream and marshmallow and is topped with hot fudge sauce then decorated with a chocolate peace sign, chocolate raspberry bleeding hearts and cosmic stars and moons.

The parlour also offers a variety of smoothies like the Health Shake – a blend of non-fat milk, non-fat vanilla yoghurt plus fruit of your choice, and the Energizer – fresh squeezed orange juice blended with banana, a scoop of non-fat vanilla yoghurt and strawberries.

The next branch is expected to open in February at new Emquartier mall on Sukhumvit Road. 

 

TWICE AS NICE

Emack & Bolio’s has two branches: one on the second floor of Nichada Plaza on Chaeng Wattana Road and the other on the sixth floor of CentralWorld’s Atrium Zone. Call (02) 259 1193 or visit www.EmackAndBoliosThai.com.