Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, the nationally beloved brand known for its made-from-scratch dairy and vegan ice creams, will open a scoop shop in Darien on Thursday, April 27.
The Darien store is the brand’s second location in Connecticut, and follows on the heels of its Greenwich opening in October 2022 - its first suburban scoop shop. The launch also marks a return to its roots for co-founders Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen who are Fairfield County natives and whose ice cream journey began here twenty years ago.
Ben and Pete became ice cream entrepreneurs back in 2002. The brothers rented a Good Humor truck and drove it all around Greenwich for two summers. With the money he made, Ben went backpacking around Asia and Europe, and found himself most excited by the food he discovered and the revelation that good food was more accessible in other parts of the world. His travels inspired the idea for an ice cream truck serving good ice cream. Not long after, they enlisted co-founder Laura O’Neill and Van Leeuwen was born in the form of a yellow scoop truck on the streets of NYC in 2008. Its French-style ice cream (made with more than double the amount of egg yolks as standard ice cream) quickly gained a loyal following, and Van Leeuwen has since expanded into storefronts in New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas, as well as grocery stores across the country, including Stop & Shop and Whole Foods. Van Leeuwen’s goal — to make good ice cream that makes you feel good — also extends to its vegan options, which are made with simple recipes and choice ingredients. It’s not “vegan ice cream,” it’s good ice cream that happens to be vegan!
The extensive menu features more than 30 signature flavors including Honeycomb, Pistachio (made with Pistachios sourced from Mount Etna in Sicily), Marionberry Cheesecake (made with vine-ripened berries from Oregon farm partner Stahlbush Island Farms), Praline Butter Cake and Earl Grey Tea (made with Rishi Tea), in addition to sundaes, housemade waffle cones, ice cream sandwiches, root beer floats, milkshakes and pints to-go. Popular vegan flavors made with oat and cashew milk, include Churros & Fudge, Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb, Strawberry Shortcake and more.
“We’re excited to grow our footprint in our home state with the opening of our store in Darien,” said Ben Van Leeuwen, co-founder and CEO. “It’s been so meaningful to see how warm the reception has been in Greenwich where Pete and I grew up, and we hope the community of Darien will be equally as excited for the good ice cream coming their way!”
Van Leeuwen is known nationally for creative seasonal and out-of-the-box limited-edition collaboration flavors such as Hidden Valley Ranch, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and BIGFACE Coffee Affogato in partnership with NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler. Van Leeuwen offers quarterly seasonal specials, and its spring flavors - Malted Milkshake & Fries, All the Cookies, Vegan Planet Earth and Vegan Very Berry Sorbet - will be available until June 1.
Van Leeuwen has teamed up with esteemed local bakery Flour Water Salt Bread on a limited-edition doughnut ice cream sandwich - a first for the brand. Available exclusively at its Darien location, this is no ordinary doughnut: it's a bombolini, (pronounced “bomb-bo-loni”): an Italian classic made with soft, buttery fried brioche dough. Guests can choose any scoop to complete their sandwich.
Opening day hours on Thursday, April 27 are 12pm-10pm. In celebration of the opening, the shop will offer $1 scoops on opening day from 3pm-5pm.
Van Leeuwen’s Darien scoop shop is located at Darien Commons (114 Heights Road) and will be open daily. Guests can enjoy their treats at the scoop shop or order pints for takeout or delivery.
ABOUT VAN LEEUWEN ICE CREAM
Van Leeuwen began as a yellow scoop truck on the streets of NYC in 2008 by Ben Van Leeuwen, Pete Van Leeuwen and Laura O’Neill, who were on a mission to make good ice cream from good ingredients that makes you feel good. Their French-style ice cream (made with more than double the amount of egg yolks as standard ice cream) quickly gained a loyal following. Van Leeuwen has since expanded and has 41 scoop shops in New York, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, DC, Colorado, Connecticut and Texas. Pints, ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches are available in grocery stores across the country, including Walmart, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods and Giant, and to order for nationwide shipping from their website. To keep up with everything Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, follow the brand on Instagram @vanleeuwenicecream or visit www.vanleeuwenicecream.com