Courtesy of Van Leeuwan
At age 17, Ben Van Leeuwen spent his summer driving around Connecticut in a Good Humor truck, selling ice cream. He relished the experience, noting how the cold treat brought so much happiness to children and families alike. Later while planning his career, he recalled this joy and set out to recreate it, albeit with higher-quality ingredients.
In 2008, he and his brother Pete Van Leeuwen, along with their friend Laura O’Neill, purchased an old Post Office truck from eBay and retrofitted it with a freezer. They created recipes for artisanal ice cream using 18 percent butterfat and 8 percent egg yolk, similar to the makeup of French custard. Then, they added premium flavors like Sicilian pistachios sourced from family farms, strawberries from Willamette Valley, Oregon, and Tahitian vanilla made from whole ground beans. The result is an ultra-creamy, dense treat free of artificial flavors, gums, stabilizers, and fillers.
Courtesy of Van Leeuwan
Today, there are more than 75 Van Leeuwen ice cream shops around the country—including the latest in Ponce City Market. Located in a new building facing a small courtyard, the scoop shop offers about 30 flavors of dairy and vegan ice creams at a time.
“Jamestown [the company behind Ponce City Market] is one of the best shopping center developers in the country,” Ben Van Leeuwen explains. “Ponce has a great vibe. It’s beautiful and rustic and respects what was there before.”
Homegrown Honeysuckle Gelato already resides in the food hall, but Van Leeuwen is not concerned about competition. “We’ve found that when more ice cream shops open around us in New York, it doesn’t have a big impact. I think there’s enough business to go around—it’s a pretty big shopping center,” he says.
Photo by Ed Carter
The menu, which changes every few months, features traditional ice cream flavors like vanilla, chocolate, cookies & cream, and mint chip, as well as creative offerings such as Earl Grey Tea, Marionberry Cheesecake, Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb, and Sweet Corn & Blueberry Jam. Toppings and sauces are available for cups, cones, and sundaes.
For the opening, Van Leeuwen partnered with Erika Council of Bomb Biscuit Co. to offer a chocolate chip biscuit sundae with honeycomb ice cream, whipped cream, and caramel sauce, sold only in Atlanta. “We went there and were blown away,” Van Leeuwen says. “We wanted to do something Southern.”
The ice cream company is known for its wild collaborations that often go viral. Past offerings include Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Hidden Valley Ranch ice creams.
A second Van Leeuwen shop is slated to open in Dunwoody’s Park Place shopping center in September.
Photo by Ed Carter
