PROVIDENCE — Step into Tricycle Ice Cream, and for a moment you’re a kid again.
It’s where owners David Cass and Gio Salvador make and sell their gourmet versions of nostalgic ice cream novelties. Think taco-shaped cones filled with Fruity Pebbles ice cream; vanilla scoops dipped in puffed rice and Callebaut chocolate; pineapple and coconut push-pops.
These are some of the new items Cass and Salvador started offering with the opening of their first brick-and-mortar location earlier this year. Since 2014, they have been using a tricycle-powered mobile cart to sell creative takes on ice cream sandwiches at events and farmers’ markets around Rhode Island.
Their Providence store, in the former location of North Bakery, serves as a production space and sales hub.
“It had always been our idea to eventually open a storefront,” said Cass, who also teaches full time at the Met School, in Providence. “But the cart has its advantages, too.”
So they plan to continue taking it out on the road this summer.
Both men are involved in all facets of the business. Salvador, a Johnson & Wales College of Culinary Arts graduate, oversees recipe development for elaborate, indulgent creations like Proclamation Ale Stout and Chocolate Rocky Road Ice Cream on Sea Salted Double Chocolate Brownies. That’s the description of a single ice cream sandwich.
“I like mixing and matching the different ice creams and cookies,” Salvador said. “There are so many different possibilities and ways to combine them.”
The process of making one of their ice cream novelties generally takes three days. They make the ice cream first, then bake the cookies the following day, with the last day dedicated to assembling.
By the time a customer walks in to purchase an item, it’s wrapped and ready to eat. Well, after it thaws for a few excruciating minutes, that is.
Ice cream sold out of their mobile cart takes a little longer to thaw, as it is kept frozen with dry ice, rather than the standard freezer used at the shop.
Cass and Salvador opened the store in January, which might seem unusual time for an ice cream business. But the timing has been great because they have been able to use the slower winter months to test and troubleshoot, Cass said.
“We just had to go for [the opening] because the opportunity arose,” he added. “We’re just kind of bootstrapping this thing. It’s only the two of us.”
The store is currently open Friday through Sunday. As summer approaches, they plan to add additional hours, as well as open the outdoor patio space and serve coffee.
And there will be some surprises, too, Salvador said, so stay tuned for more sweet news.
Details: 70 Battey St., Providence, 401-227-9297, tricycleicecream.com. Open Friday 3-9 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.