Newbie Event: It’s Sweet to be Elite

This was the most adorable & sweetest little Unilocal event I’ve ever been to and thanks to Tim D. I was able to enjoy it with a few newbie elites at Smittens Ice Cream! This totally precious ice cream shop is located right next to/​inside Whole Foods (very appropriate) and from what I learned, all their ice cream concoctions are made fresh on the spot using fresh seasonal ingredients and flash frozen using liquid nitro! Super yummy and fun to watch too! When they make a batch, it looks like they’re conducting a cool science experiment with the whole foggy dry ice type effect thing going on. Would definitely take my nieces and nephews here for a fun science treat!
I loved the atmosphere at Smittens — they were so nice and were extremely informative about how they came about making their ice creams and their aspirations for making it all with fresh ingredients! They prepared a special menu for us Unilocalers and here were the following special flavors we got to try:
+ Earl Grey — my number one favorite of all the flavors I tried! I really love tea so I was really excited for this one and you can really taste the earl grey in it. The chocolate chips added the perfect hint of sweetness to it!
+ Salted Caramel — Loved the initial flavor of this ice cream because it was rich and decadent, but after awhile it gets to be a little bit too sweet
+ Mint Chip — this one definitely showcased how fresh their ingredients were because it’s not green like your typical mint chocolate chip AND you can ACTUALLY taste the mint!
+ TCHO 60.5% Chocolate — Dark chocolate is my absolute favorite kind of chocolate so I was really excited to try this one. It was so surprisingly creamy and smooth! IMO, this one had the best texture profile of them all!
+ Stony Mill Semillon Wine — This one was a special treat for us because it’s infused with wine! That’s something they only do for special events (catering) and don’t offer it for sale in the shop. I really loved the subtle scent and sweetness of the wine in this!
My favorite part of this whole experience? The waffle chips. O.M.G. The waffle chips. I can’t even explain… so just go there and get some. Just remembering the scent of those waffle chips is making my mouth water!
Overall — super amazing place to grab some really fresh & great quality ice cream! I’m definitely going to share this place with my friends when they come in from out of town because it is truly a unique treat! Thanks Abby & Smitten Ice Cream for hosting us! :D

My very first Unilocal Event! I was excited and nervous but in the end, I walked away with a belly full of incredible ice cream and a mind full of hope. First off, thanks to Abby for putting on a great event and for allowing us to meet Robyn, Eliza and the rest of the gang at Smitten. I enjoyed hearing about the process of liquid nitrogen ice cream, starting the business from a wagon, coming up with recipes on a living room floor, and creating their own machinery just as much as I did the ice cream! Ok, I might’ve enjoyed the ice cream a tad bit more! The story is very inspirational and worthy of a book (hint, hint). I really appreciate the time they spent explaining everything and anything we asked about and allowing us to taste 5 of their flavors. I started with the Earl Grey tea and chip ice cream. I’m not much of an herbal tea drinker nor am I a fan of things (like chocolate chips) in my ice cream but it was a nice, sophisticated flavor. Note that the Earl Grey ice cream is the Feb flavor as they have a new seasonal flavor each month! I moved to the Salted Caramel which blew me away. I love caramel and the intense richness of this caramel ice cream practically smacks you in the face when you first taste it. I was certain that it would be my favorite and no way could it be out done but I was wrong. Next I grabbed the Mint Chocolate Chip. I was really impressed by the simple flavor of actual mint leaves. No extract or flavoring here. It was light and so refreshing. By now, I was about to bust but had to try the TCHO Chocolate ice cream. I chose the chili caramel as a topper and was simply in awe of the combination. I didn’t get a lot of heat from the chili caramel but it added a tad bit of saltiness to the incredibly dense, chocolatey goodness. If you’ve ever had Haagen Daaz chocolate ice cream, this is very similar. It’s absolutely smooth and creamy to the point of utter richness. I’m not even a huge chocolate ice cream fan. I thought for sure the Salted Caramel was going to be my number one but the TCHO chocolate out did it for sure. I will be back for more of that chocolate and chili caramel!

This was a great event! I loved meeting the owner and hearing about how she grew her business. Better yet was the opportunity to try all of their ice cream flavors, even this special one made from a lovely white wine. It was sooo refreshing and delicious.
Thanks so much to both Smitten and Abby S. for pulling this event together. I’m looking forward to my next visit to go grocery shopping at Whole Foods because that also means it’ll be my next visit to get ice cream! :)

Such a nice and intimate event. Good ice cream, some wine/​beer, and some good people who also enjoy food just as much as I do. Props for Abby coordinating this event and Smittens Ice Cream for hosting. Honored to be invited.
5 Flavors ranked:
1) Earl Grey with Milk Chocolate
–Wonderful taste all around. By far my favorite with the wonderful taste of tea.
2) Mint Chip
–Not mint flavor but actual mint! So cool and refreshing.
3) Salted Caramel
–If you love Almond Rocha, you will definitely love this flavor. I love Almond Rocha but this was a bit too sweet for me to handle a full cup.
4) Stony Mill Semillon Wine
–Ice Cream infused with wine. Tasted exactly like Wine with the alcohol content!!! Mind blowing ice cream.
5) TCHO 60.5% Chocolate
–Kind of bias as I am not much of a chocolate fan. Chocolate lovers despise of my taste buds because I like white chocolate. However this ice cream was still very delicious and creamier than the other flavors.
Loved the waffle chips that were served on the side. It tasted so good as you dip them into the ice cream much like eating chips. The owners were so nice and friendly. You can see their passion for ice cream, always looking to improve because of their love for it. Good quality, fresh ingredients, and the passion to share their interests with other definitely puts Smittens Ice Cream at the top with other ice cream parlors.
Was definitely Sweet to be an Elite at this event!

Warm weather, ice cream, and beer? YES please! My husband and I enjoyed this pre-​valentines casual evening trying ice creams and meeting people. It was really cool to see how Smitten was formed and the geeky science behind it. We had lots of fun, and the wine infused ice cream at the end bumped it up a notch!

Great event by Abby and Smitten on a undisputedly gorgeous day in PA. It was pretty kool to actually for once see how your ice cream ingredients are put together to become something creamy and delicious. The place was closed for Unilocal party and this speaks volumes on their customer attention. We met the CEO of smitten and she seemed very personable. Now coming to the star of the evening, flavor of the month Earl grey ice cream with milk chocolate was superb. Tasted superbly fresh and I could the CEO’s vision come true in her final product. We had generous samples served many times with fresh cones. It was a sweet haven. The next close call in terms f flavors were the mint chips and wine infused ice cream. Wine infused ice cream was strikingly novel. Since the icecreams are made to order right in front of our eyes hence the price is slightly steep but totally worth the flavours. The staff were super cool and were a delight to talk. Since I pass by this place plethora number of times, I see myself definitely sway by smitten at least couple of times a week if not more.

Free ice cream? Yeah, I’m totally there.
I tried three flavors, and my fave of the day was the Fresh Mint. As advertised, it had a very fresh minty taste, unlike the artificial minty flavor one might experience with a store-​bought ice cream.
Smitten’s owner gave us a brief history of her company and why she got into the ice cream business, and explained how the liquid nitrogen process for making Smitten’s ice cream lends to its ultra-​smooth texture and creaminess. Seriously, that ice cream is smooth.
I’m really looking forward to returning to Smitten when I’m in the area. They feature a special flavor each month, and April’s rhubarb crumble is calling my name.

This event was WONDERFUL! I showed up late but was still treated to amazing Wine infused ice cream. Does it get any better than liquid nitrogen, cream, wine and waffle cone topping? I think not. The staff was super sweet and even allowed me to taste a few that had already run out by the time I got there. This may have been my first time at smitten but it will not be the last. Thanks Abby for such a great pre-Valentine’s Day event! ps. I love the swag bags!

SUCH a treat! We got to try SO many amazing flavors and everyone working at Smitten was so nice! Thanks for the fantastic afternoon!

I’ve had Smitten bookmarked for a while but was never able to head up to the original location in the City. So boy was I excited when they opened their second location inside the Whole Foods in Los Altos!
Was there for a YEE event and got to meet the owner, understand the process, and taste 5 different flavors! The flavors change monthly (great! This will give me a reason to visit monthly!) and the ice cream texture was super-smooth…yay for liquid nitrogen! We got to try:
* earl grey (Feb’s flavor) — my favorite of the 5, really taste the tea flavor and the chocolate chips add great texture.
* salted caramel — great combo of sweet, salty, and creamy
* mint chip — really taste the fresh mint, I think it was the first time I had mint chip ice cream that wasn’t green… hooray for fresh ingredients!
* TCHO chocolate — yummy rich dark chocolate, I paired mine with the beer caramel… delish!
* Stony Hill wine flavor designed especially for us Unilocalers — great flavor, not on the menu but you can get it if you have Smitten cater an event!
The owner and staff were super friendly. They also have great chunks, sauces, and waffle cones.
Great concept, great place, and most importantly great ice cream!

Props to our community manager Abby S. who set up a great event for us newbie Elites. The Quick rundown — 5 different flavors with a special wine flavored ice cream. Beer or wine to drink and some Unilocal swag. What more could you want.
We also watched them a make the cool geeky scientific experiment they call smitten ice cream. Since the ice cream is made with liquid nitrogen, it forms smaller ice crystals which makes for better, smoother ice cream. The founder talked about her passion, the process and the differences between their ice cream and others. Smitten ice cream is hand made to order, has fresh seasonal ingredients and no stabilizers. You can taste the difference.
My favorite of the day was the mint, you could really taste the mint leaf flavor and not some artificial syrup. It hard to really pick a favorite though as they were all very good, especially the earl grey tea which they steep that day and can really taste the flavor. The wine infused ice cream was really great as well since they don’t have to mix in alcohol as they can freeze it in with the ice cream since liquid nitrogen is way colder than the normal ice cream makers.
I got to meet some new people, and try some delicious ice cream. It was a great event with great food and fun people.

Does it get any better than booze and ice cream?! Wine infused ice cream at that?!
This event was mainly geared toward the Elite noobs such as myself. Fortunately there were others there who were just like me! Complimentary beer and wine to start the event, and then came the ice cream. They served us Earl Grey, Tcho Chocolate, Mint, and Salted Carmel. All very yummy and made fresh with their patented BRR machine, in which they use liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream! Looks very cool and tasted even better. It’s the texture of the ice cream that takes this place a notch above the rest; love the creaminess! Also, BEER CARAMEL topping… nuff said.
And then came their wine infused concoction (!!!). I had to toss my second «glass» of wine because I was driving and you could really taste the wine in the ice cream. Still yummy nonetheless!
Thank you, Smitten Ice Cream, for hosting this event! (And thank you, Abby, for putting it all together for us noobs!) I really enjoyed learning about the owners passion and history behind the shop, and I hope to bring my BF in so he can experience the yumminess of your ice cream!

Thank you Smitten and Abby for putting together such an awesome event for us «newbie» elites! This is such a great introduction to the elite lifestyle. It was great to meet Abby and Robyn (the owner/​founder of Smitten.) It was such a heart-​felt story of how Robyn created such a great and unique ice cream parlor.
Now, onto the ice cream flavor! I love love the earl grey ice cream with chocolate. I can really taste the earl grey tea flavor. I was very surprised by the special flavor of the day that Smitten had created for us as well. It was ice cream infused with wine. You can really taste the wine! It tasted really good with the beer that they offered as well. It reminded me of a root beer float. =)
I will definitely come back to try the other monthly flavors that they offer.
And, thanks Unilocal for the great bag of goodies! :D

It was so sweet to be Elite on this unseasonably warm day for ice cream, white wine, and to my pleasant surprise, a luscious wine infused ice cream for the grand finale.
For 2 hours we were treated to a progression of 5 of their aromatic flavors (and practically as much as we could stomach). In addition, they were serving generous pours of Stony Hill Semullion white wine and a stout beer (wait what do they say about mixing?)
The founder and owner of Smitten (Robyn Sue Fisher) graciously shared with us the the history and passion that drove her to start her hand crafted business from the trunk of her car to now 2 locations (SF and Los Altos) and counting.
My favorite flavors were the fresh mint chip (aromatic and minty strong) and TCHO chocolate (creamy and pure chocolate heaven). The special edition flavor for this event was the stony hill white wine/​vanilla concoction that was so good I think I had two servings.
As usual, this was an impeccable event setup by Abby and crew. Kudos and a we scream for ice cream cheer to another fun Unilocal event.