{"id":2964,"date":"2014-11-25T23:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-11-25T23:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/food\/the-long-beach-creamery-to-open-brick-n-mortar-in-bixby-knolls\/"},"modified":"2014-11-25T23:00:39","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T23:00:39","slug":"the-long-beach-creamery-to-open-brick-n-mortar-in-bixby-knolls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/food\/the-long-beach-creamery-to-open-brick-n-mortar-in-bixby-knolls","title":{"rendered":"The Long Beach Creamery to Open Brick and Mortar in Bixby Knolls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"LBCreamery02\"<\/p>\n

In the summer of last year, urban farming guru and Farm Lot 59 founder Sasha Kanno invited some neighbors over for a dinner\u2014homemade of course, including the peanut ice cream for dessert.<\/p>\n

Astounded by the flavor, guest Dina Amadril was curious as to how Kanno had created the creamy concoction and was shown the KitchenAid ice cream attachment made for the famed line of standup mixers by the same brand. Happenstance: Amadril had one herself, albeit sitting dusty and unused in her garage.<\/p>\n

“Game on, I’m going to try this out.\u201d<\/p>\n

On August 22, 2013, Amadril held her first tasting at her home, with 10 strangers sampling 12 flavors, from Lord Windsor Coffee to Biscuits & Jam, Madagascar Vanilla to Goat Cheese Whiskey Fig. The success of the tastings moved toward Farm Lot 59, where Kanno had graciously permitted Amadril to host the decadent gatherings, with the ice cream eventually ending up receiving random Yelp! reviews and Facebook ratings.<\/p>\n

\"LBCreamery05\"That is the humble, Long Beach-style beginnings of what has become Amadril\u2019s life as of the past year. The Long Beach Creamery<\/a>, working out of Amadril\u2019s home, has been offering locals a hint of what locally-sourced ingredients can add to the culinary art of ice cream making\u2014and the success has been so overwhelming that Amadril is ready to take the Creamery toward its next step: into its very own brick and mortar at 4141 Long Beach Blvd.<\/p>\n

Of course, as with all tales of trying to build something both delicious and successful, the Creamery did not instantaneously come with the shining beacon of success shooting from its pints of tastiness. Amadril had always enjoyed ice cream but had never really perceived it as her creative conduit, as she puts it. But when she realized that cream was more chameleon-like in flavor, her imagination boomed as did her workload.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not difficult to work from home at first,\u201d Amadril said. \u201cOriginally, I had my Kitchen Aid freezer attachment and a cute turquoise Cuisinart ice cream maker. But as demand grew – I ended up with 5 Cuisinarts and 3 Kitchen Aid attachments – and no room in my freezers. Capacity was becoming a problem. Around this time I also started researching what it would take to make this official: the regulations, investments and equipment\u2026 All the little ice cream spinners were starting to wear on me, so I made a big move and invested in a $10K Emery Thompson Blast Freezer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LBCreamery01\"<\/p>\n

Money aside, the good ol\u2019 Long Beach Health Department wasn\u2019t too keen on Amadril\u2019s endeavors: given dairy is a hazardous food product, ice cream is prohibited from being made out of the home to sell. Effectively being shut down, Amadril created LBC Home\u2014her own brand of jams, cookies, and nutty delicacies like almond brittle\u2014with the use of a cottage license, Amadril could focus her attention on the creamy elephant in the room: her ice cream.<\/p>\n

Conversation after conversation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the officials who regulate frozen milk products, Amadril discovered her project would be larger in scope than expected. In fact, it would need not just one but two kitchens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized I needed a traditional hot kitchen for making the ingredients that will go into the ice cream and then a dairy room where all work with the cream must happen,\u201d Amadril explained. \u201cIf I was going to build all this, I might as well make it a place for people to come and eat some ice cream as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not Long Beach\u2019s first dairy room. That honor would belong to the Long Beach Dairy & Creamery, which opened in 1903 in northwest Long Beach. According to Amadril, the Victorian home\u2014owned now by Dan Pressburg\u2014has been a landmark since 1994, making it the oldest and first Historic Residence to be recognized as such in North Long Beach outside Rancho Los Cerritos.<\/p>\n

But Amadril\u2019s dream is a bit more contemporary in flavor: she wants to build a space where the dairy room is entirely visible to patrons, allowing \u201cguests to see, feel and smell the entire ice cream making process.\u201d<\/p>\n