We’re all screaming for ice cream this summer! Our three-part series, Coneheads, introduces some of the newest sweet spots.
They’re all over Instagram and Facebook: mouth-watering videos of liquid ice cream being poured onto cold slabs, scraped into delicate quarter-size rolls and served in a cup with a variety of creative toppings.
Known as rolled ice cream, the trend hails from Thailand and is now ubiquitous in major American cities like D.C. and New York (its popularity fueled in large part by those mesmerizing social media videos).
Now, the treat is coming to Baltimore in the form of Roll: Ice Cream Social, slated to open late this summer in Highlandtown at the corner of Eastern and S. Bouldin Street.
Located in the former home of Bolewicki’s Appliance Center, the spot will feature rolled ice cream, of course, but will also serve coffee and handmade seltzers.
Owners Jessica Reyes and Jason Werner have both lived in Highlandtown for several years and wanted to bring the concept to their own neighborhood.
“I think there’s a real sense of community and I think that the ice cream shop really fosters that,” Reyes says. “The community is really thriving.”
The owners say Roll will have 10 or 12 “signature flavors” on a rotating basis. They hope to feature Baltimore favorite foods like Old Bay or cookies from Vaccaro’s in at least one flavor, putting a hometown twist on the viral taste sensation.
(They’re working to keep their ingredients as local as possible, too, and will be partnering with South Mountain Creamery in Middletown for dairy, as well as making as many ingredients as possible in-house, including syrups for the handmade seltzers.)
For those who get their fix from caffeine, not ice cream, Reyes promises a variety of options.
Coffee is “one of the things that we’re trying to emphasize,” she says. The ice cream shop-café hybrid will serve espresso-based drinks like lattes or Americanos alongside drip coffee and other options. Best of all? Customers can combine coffee or seltzers into affogatos and floats.
‘“This is really an adventure into what you can do with ice cream,” Reyes says. “We’re really excited to give it life and a new purpose.”
