Art Mag: Culinary Artist Profile! July 6, 2011
Check out the new Art Mag for a Culinary Artist Profile on ROOTS! Also, check out our friends over at Giddy Goat for their write up as well. Don’t forget to try a Giddy ROOTS float at the Downtown Farmer’s Market (Giddy UP! Apple Ginger Whey Soda with a scoop of ROOTS!)
Culinary Artist Profile: Roots Ice Cream
words: Jessica Dennis
They say that big things come in small packages, and in the case of the entrepreneurial duo that created the new local sensation, Roots Ice Cream, that package was a sweet pea. Always agriculturally inclined, Drew Harrison and Matt Frye worked as distributors at Our Local Foods CSA, an organic vegetable farm outside of Charleston. One day, Frye picked a sweet pea, took a bite, and thought to himself, “All this needs is cream and sugar.”
Imagine any edible you love – fruits, vegetables, even a drink – being carefully churned into gourmet ice cream. Well, Roots does just that. With Harrison’s strong background in business and Frye’s culinary forte, what started as a part-time endeavor turned into something much bigger than the two ever anticipated. (Frye even has accreditation from the same school attended by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s and Burt Baskin and Irv Robins of Baskin-Robbins!)
Using only local organic ingredients, the Roots guys have created a multitude of delectable and innovative seasonal ice cream flavors, including but not limited to: beet, sweet tea, champagne Kool-Aid sorbet, Earle Grey Tea, Benne Wafer, strawberry cilantro, chocolate pluff mud, cucumber melon, watermelon, loquat, and coffee. Roots Ice Cream is sold around Charleston at places like the downtown Marion and Mt. Pleasant Farmers’ Markets and Freshfields Village at Kiawah, but their biggest sales come from catering events, especially weddings. “We can take the bride and groom’s favorite flavors and create a personalized ice cream for them to serve on their big day,” says Harrison.
Why call it Roots Ice Cream? “The name is a play on the agricultural roots of the fruits and vegetables that we use, as well as our own local roots in Charleston. We also strictly use products that are locally and organically grown,” says Harrison. “The idea behind Roots Ice Cream is to support our community, and what better way to celebrate the community than with ice cream?”
The Art Mag girls say bring us seconds!
919.413.5485
Wherever You Want Them to Be!
www.rootsicecream.com
http://www.charlestonartmag.com/culinaryarts_current.aspx
