With debut of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, some of America’s best ice creams are now scooping in Dallas

Sweet!

I’m pretty certain that the dairy cows, cacao farmers and brownie bakers behind Van Leeuwen Ice Cream already know their awesomeness is blended into some of America’s best treats.

Now Dallas gets to taste more truly great ice cream in the city’s first Van Leeuwen Ice Cream scoop shop, which is now open in West Village Uptown at 3699 McKinney Ave.

At a pre-opening VIPeek, co-owner Ben Van Leeuwen and I had a lengthy, two-scoop chat (three scoops if you count the insane new flavor he told me they’ll be introducing very soon – crazier than the last one, Mac & Cheese).

What makes Van Leeuwen ice creams among America’s best? They’re made with a French custard-style base of egg yolks and cream rather than artificial stabilizers or guar gum. That cream? It’s 18% butterfat, which gives the ice creams an ultra rich texture and dairy flavor; lesser quality brands use much less. Van Leeuwen also employs expensive, sustainably sourced, single-origin ingredients such as Madagascar vanilla beans, Ecuadorian cacao, Sicilian pistachios and Italian sweet cherries.

For example, here are the package ingredients listed on a pint of Van Leeuwen’s pistachio ice cream: “Cream, Milk, Cane Sugar, Organic Egg Yolks, Sicilian Pistachios, Salt.” That’s it.

Stand-out flavors include chocolate fudge brownie, praline butter cake, Earl Grey tea (weirdly delicious), and strawberry margarita (a Dallas-only treat). Van Leeuwen makes some of the best ice creams in America- and now they’re scooping in Dallas.

Even better: Two more stores are planned for DFW, one in Fort Worth and another in Dallas.