Restaurants, green delis and coffee shops are multiplying like rabbits these days in Bed-Stuy.
But there hasn't been an ice cream shop in the heart of this neighborhood for more than a decade-- that is, not until now.
On Wednesday, July 11, Frozen Social, a swanky little organic ice cream shop located at 501 Franklin Avenue (and Fulton Street), finally opened its doors.
And I say "finally," because standing by the door as patrons walked into the tiny shop was like listening to an echo: "So you guys finally opened! Thank God, I've been watching you get ready for months, I couldn't wait."
"Bed-Stuy needs this," said Garland Shields, the store's owner.
"We need more businesses that offer good products and good services, and that's what we're striving for here," said Shields who purchases all of his ice creams locally from Blue Marble Organic in Sunset Park. "It's ice cream, but it's organic, so it has no eggs and organic milk, and you can taste the difference immediately."
The ice creams come in 12 flavors, including mint chip, pistachio, cookie dough, strawberry and chocolate mango. Frozen Social also carries 12 different types of sorbets, including peach, blue raspberry, passion fruit and cotton candy, along with four flavored gelatos: hazelnut, biscotti, vanilla antica and banana.
"We chose the name 'Frozen Social,' because we wanted to be a one-stop shop for everything cold and sweet," said Shields. "Plus, we're of the social networking generation; we're active on Twitter and Facebook... so we just thought it was a fitting name."
Frozen Social also has a cold counter top-- another new-fangled, cool feature-- which lets patrons custom-design their ice creams flavors by mixing them and adding fruit toppings, like fresh pineapple, blueberries, blackberries or strawberries.
But the cold counter top will not be ready for a few days still, said Shields. They are waiting on a few parts. In fact, the store is still working on a number of things before its full launch: Signs were still going up, paint seemed to still be drying in some places, and the juice machine had not yet arrived.
"We're still working out a few kinks," said Shields. "But we had so many people coming by asking, 'When are you guys opening? When are you opening?' So we've been working non-stop just to get our doors open."
Just in time for the summer scorch. But take note: Don't stroll down Franklin whistling Dixie with $2.00 in your hand thinking you're about to purchase a scoop or two of icy goodness. One scoop of Frozen Social gelato or sorbet is $3.75, and one scoop of the organic ice cream is $4.50.
"But this is good stuff," said Shields. "We could bring in the $2 scoop, but it's not the same product you're getting; that's full of air and melts in like two seconds."
However, thankfully, one scoop for children is only $2.25.
Frozen Social is open Monday - Sunday, from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. The store's grand open is Saturday, July 21, at 2:00 p.m.
