“It is what it is.” Have you heard that expression? I used to think it was the most inane tautology ever conceived. Of course it is what it is, what is the alternative? It is what it is not? That kind of pseudo-profound adage makes my brain hurt.
And yet the expression leaps to my mind immediately and above all others when I think about Earnest Ice Cream, an already legendary business that has opened a new location right here on the North Shore at West First Street just off Lonsdale Avenue. I say legendary because when they burst onto the craft ice cream scene in 2012 with their wares, all interesting, big-on-taste varieties of made-by-hand ice cream, they redefined the category.
Today, the Earnest vibe, which is partly achieved through the elegant, warm spaces they occupy, is often emulated and may even seem like it’s just the ice cream paradigm of Vancouver. But it was Earnest that reinvigorated the ice cream space through lovingly crafted varieties that make use of seasonal ingredients and combinations born of flights of fancy, scooped in rooms that could just as easily be stylish lounges or gastropubs. The Earnest team develops new flavours in super small batches in their Quebec Street location production kitchen. The flavours that resonate most strongly with the team get scaled up, adapting the recipes to produce, still by hand, the quantity needed to meet their ever growing legions of fans, both directly in store at Earnest’s four locations, through their ice cream truck, as well as through the various small retailers and restaurants that serve it.
The most striking thing about Earnest, in my opinion, lies in their name. It comprises half of one of the shortest, but most powerful, mission statements I’ve heard: Be Earnest. In other words, be free of pretence and artifice, hypocrisy and insincerity. Be real. In the case of ice cream, this means using natural ingredients, producing in smaller, limited quantity batches to ensure freshness and seasonality, and use local ingredients as much as possible. In
Earnest’s case, this also means recognizing that while every business has an environmental footprint, where that footprint can be reduced, it should be the job of the leaders of that business to pursue the reduction. Earnest’s signature glass ice cream pint jars, which can be taken home and then brought back to the shop for formal cleansing and reuse (plus a dollar off your next pint if you bring the jar back clean and with a lid), serve as an important functional symbol of the company’s stance. Earnest explicitly states on its website its commitment to becoming a zero waste operator and has taken a number of steps to reduce their impact, from sourcing a number of key ingredients from B.C. (hazelnuts from Agassiz, cranberries from Pitt Meadows, sour cherries from the Okanagan, etc.) to formalized recycling and green power initiatives that employ alternative suppliers.
More importantly for our purposes here, presumably, is the fact that Earnest Ice Cream is delicious. My standing all-time favourite from them is a winter creation, their Oatmeal and Brown Sugar flavour, a mind-boggling rich and deep, luscious and satisfying flavour that helps ease the dark, wet drudgery of Vancouver Februaries. They once did a Rhubarb Crumble flavour that was a perfect match of tart and creamy, and the Spruce Tips ice cream was truly original and tasty.
At their newly opened North Van shop summer flavours are in full swing. I stopped by to pick up some pints and was excited to see Basil flavour on offer, about as summery as it gets; my basil plant is growing like a weed out on front porch. I was a bit sceptical about the idea of a herbaceous ice cream, but wow, did it ever deliver on great taste. Somehow what you get from the basil in this ice cream is just the fresh, aromatic quality of the herb and not its leafy greenness. It was an excellent, surprising flavour and one that even went over, very unexpectedly, with all three of my kids.
My favourite of this current tasting was Sour Cherry and Goat Cheese, another example of an idea that may seem unlikely in theory but that careful recipe development brings to life in a most brilliant way. The tart Okanagan cherries are balanced with the unrivalled creaminess of goat cheese, but the latter also adds a layer of complexity with its heady, borderline sharp quality. Great stuff.
The Salted Chocolate flavour revealed intense, cocoa-forward chocolatey notes and just the right amount of salt to give it a sophisticated edge without turning it into a savoury offering.
I picked up a pint of Cookies and Cream ice cream mostly to ensure my selection at least partially satisfied the kids’ palates, but as it happens, they liked all the flavours and it was me that most appreciated the nostalgic Oreo-ness of the this last offering.
I have yet to make a regrettable choice at Earnest (you know, where you wish you had someone else’s cone?) and I suspect I won’t. It’s not in their DNA to put out middling flavours.
So I guess this is what I mean about the otherwise inane expression I mentioned above. Earnest ice cream is good, well-made, it’s easy to read the label, and the shop is just generally likeable. It is what it is. Earnest.
Pints of ice cream are $11, scoops are $5.
Earnest Ice Cream is located at 127 West First St. in North Vancouver, Earnesticecream.com.
