The Hunter Envoy

Issue date: 9/2/09 Section: Features

Photo by Rosanna Chan.

I am a carnivore, mind you. Well, not really, but certainly an omnivore, and even more certainly not a vegan.

However, Lula's Sweet Apothecary, a ten-month old vegan ice cream shop on 6th Street in Alphabet City is a purveyor of delicious, creamy ice cream that just so happens to be dairy and egg free. (And, attention celiacs, some of the flavors are even gluten free.)

Blythe and Derrick, the young vegan shop owners, concoct and serve up wonderful homemade soy and nut based ice cream, with an ever-changing selection of flavors. They churn out classics like vanilla, chocolate, and cookies-n-cream, but intersperse them with more inventive flavors, like peanut butter and jelly, ginger snap, and even an alleged avocado (though I have yet to sample that one).

The hard ice cream is hearty and rich, and while some of the flavors (like ginger snap or espresso) are not for the faint of heart or palate, all are available for tasting via biodegradable tasting spoons made out of corn starch (soon to be replaced by custom-cast mini-spoons).

That's the other thing about Lula's-every detail is well attended and every corner is well appointed. The shop is charmingly designed like an old time apothecary, with swirled script etched onto the front window glass, and vintage glass bottles lining the walls.

Hand-stained wooden shelves hang behind the counter, and an adorable custom-made cabinet housing Lula's wide array of ice-cream toppings sits behind the register. The shake and float glasses are old school, too, as are the metal straw-spoons.

The friendly folk behind the counter are usually wearing striped blouses or dotted bowties, uniforms that hark back to a time before our time, when shop owners knew their customers' names, and children could buy penny candy out of big glass jars. I'd venture to call it a better time.

The ice cream is not cheap (3.75 for a single scoop, 5.25 for a double, 8.25 for a sundae), but it's delicious and the experience is worth every penny.
Each time I head to Lula's (my visits are more frequent than I'd like to admit), I am greeted with a smile and an offer to sample new flavors. While I always smile back and accept the offer, I tend to stick with my favorite: the soft-serve.

Soy-based cake batter and nut-based chocolate are the soft-serve mainstays, and they are exceptional. The cake batter is thick, smooth and almost chewy, with a texture that offers satisfaction and resistance. The flavor is perfect: batter-y and not too sweet. The chocolate is rich, and like a good piece of 72%, deeply flavored with a hint of cocoa bitterness. The swirl, therefore, is an amazing flavor experience (rare for ice cream).
My only complaint, about the whole wonderful package that is Lula's, is that the two soft serve flavors melt at slightly different rates (due to their soy and nut bases). But that just means you need to lick a bit more attentively, which shouldn't be a problem.

My only other complaint is that it gets crowded in the evenings. But that's actually a good thing, ensuring that our vegan ice cream is always in demand and supply!

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