We kept hearing about the deliciousness of Smitten Ice Cream and immediately knew we had to stop by and indulge during our #nodtourbus trip through California last month.

Our ice cream dreams came true when they agreed to partner with us for our Los Altos event at Area 151.  The Smitten team handed out free ice cream to those who visited the bus on that beautiful afternoon.

We had a change to sit down with Eliza from Smitten Ice Cream to find out a little more about this amazing and creative ice cream brand.

How did Smitten begin?

Our Founder Robyn Fisher, an ice cream lover, really didn’t love the way ice cream in today’s world was muddled with “unpronounceable ingredients” (preservatives, emulsifiers and stabilizers) to prolong shelf-life. She became intent on the idea of new, old-fashioned ice cream.

Robyn discovered that freezing ice cream at super low temperatures could create a smoother product and freeze ice cream in record time.  With a rapid freezing cycle, she could make ice cream to order, without compromising taste for shelf-life. Aha!  So, with liquid nitrogen as her secret weapon, she set off to build a machine that perfected the ultra-cold churning process.

Smitten Ice Cream Beginnings: How Smitten Ice Cream started out from Harryhyuan on Vimeo.

Video Credit Organic Hobo

Who’s Brrr ™?

It took Robyn several years, the help of brilliant engineers and her life’s savings, but out came Brrr_™, a one-of-a-kind ice cream machine that perfects the process of using liquid nitrogen to churn exceptionally small ice crystals. Brrr_™  makes the smoothest, densest and most flavorful ice cream on earth from scratch, to order, in just minutes.

Photo credit: “Toni Gauthier for Toni Bird Photography”

Where was your first Smitten location?

In the fall of 2009, Robyn bungee-corded  Brrr_™ atop a Radio Flyer wagon and began selling made-to-order ice cream on the streets of San Francisco with the help of pastry chef Robyn Lenzi. (Yes, they are both named Robyn). Brrr_™ developed such a strong following that Robyn went on to open the first Smitten Ice Cream shop in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco in April of 2011, where the Smitten crew took on the title of “Brrristas_™“.

Where are your other Smitten locations?

We currently have four California locations. Hayes Valley, Los Altos, Rockridge and most recently opened in Lafayette.

Photo credit: “Toni Gauthier for Toni Bird Photography”

Thanks Eliza for telling us more about Smitten, and being part of our #nodtourbus event in Los Altos!