'Salt & Straw' Ice Cream Shop Coming To Los Gatos

LOS GATOS, CA — The popular ice cream chain Salt & Straw is gearing up to open shop in Los Gatos, just in time for summer. The brand's co-founder and head ice cream maker will stop in next week for a celebration before the store opens to the general public at Old Town on Friday, June 2.

Salt & Straw will continue collaborations with Bay Area artisans, chefs and farmers, including Don Bugito, Red Blossom Tea, Dandelion Chocolates and Tomatero Farm.

"Salt & Straw is excited to become a part of the community-driven city of Los Gatos," the company said Thursday. "This exciting expansion allows the brand to further indulge ice cream enthusiasts with their extraordinary and locally sourced creations."

The robust roster of treats features signature flavors like sea salt with caramel ribbons, salted malted chocolate chip cookie dough, and pear and blue cheese. Throughout June, diners will also get to try out Salt & Straw's "Upcycled Food Series" menu, which will rotate creations from local partners while helping to reduce food waste.

Here are the items they have planned:

• Day-Old Bread Pudding & Chocolate Ganache: Created in collaboration with Urban Gleaners, the Portland-based nonprofit redistributing food from high-end restaurants and grocery stores to schools and agencies working to end hunger. The custard bread pudding ice cream is layered with housemade chocolate ganache. Salt & Straw worked with Urban Gleaners to gather a year’s worth of bread from around Portland that would have gone to waste to feature in this flavor.
• Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato: Created in collaboration with Blue Stripes, the cacao brand founded by famed chocolatier Oded Brenner. The cacao gelato, which is made using the whole pod including the shell and pulp, is striped with ribbons of melt-in-your-mouth dark chocolate stracciatella.
• Lemon Curd & Whey: Created in collaboration with The Spare Food Co, the culinary innovation company co-founded by chef Adam Kaye (former Culinary Director at Blue Hill), who reduces food waste at farms and processors by capturing overlooked and unused ingredients. The tart, tangy gelato is infused with whey-based Spare Food Lemon & Ginger sparkling tonic.
• Salted Caramel & Okara Cupcakes (V): Created in collaboration with Renewal Mill, the upcycled food company that fights climate change and global food loss by upcycling byproducts from food manufacturing into superfood ingredients and premium, plant-based pantry staples. Bits of dark chocolate cupcakes, frosted with vegan caramel and made with okara flour, which is flour from soy milk that is normally thrown out when making soy milk, are folded into a salted coconut oat milk ice cream.
• Malted Chocolate Barley Milk (V): in collaboration with Evergrain, a sustainable ingredient business, the chocolate barley milk and candied fig ice cream is infused with malted barley milk made with EverPro, a nutrient-rich barley protein made from upcycled brewers spent grain (BSG) – a byproduct of the brewing process. This is also Salt & Straw’s first ever allergen-free ice cream that’s not a sorbet!

The new Salt & Straw is located at 50 University Avenue and will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. starting June 2.