Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Is Coming To Darien

DARIEN, CT — Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, a nationally known ice cream brand known for its scratch-made dairy and vegan ice creams, will open up a scoop shop in Darien on April 27.

Located at Darien Commons, 114 Heights Road, this will be the brand's second Connecticut location. A scoop shop opened on Greenwich Avenue last October, which marked a homecoming for co-founders Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen, both Fairfield County natives.

Opening day hours on April 27 will be 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. In celebration of the opening, the shop will offer $1 scoops on opening day from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The shop will be open daily. Guests can enjoy their sweet treats at the shop, or order pints for takeout or delivery.

"We’re excited to grow our footprint in our home state with the opening of our store in Darien," said Ben in a news release. "It’s been so meaningful to see how warm the reception has been in Greenwich where Pete and I grew up, and we hope the community of Darien will be equally as excited for the good ice cream coming their way."

The extensive menu features more than 30 signature flavors including Honeycomb, Pistachio (made with Pistachios sourced from Mount Etna in Sicily), Marionberry Cheesecake (made with vine-ripened berries from Oregon farm partner Stahlbush Island Farms), Praline Butter Cake and Earl Grey Tea (made with Rishi Tea), in addition to sundaes, housemade waffle cones, ice cream sandwiches, root beer floats, milkshakes and pints to-go.

Popular vegan flavors made with oat and cashew milk, include Churros & Fudge, Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb, Strawberry Shortcake and more.

Van Leeuwen also offers creative, seasonal and out-of-the-box limited edition collaboration flavors, such as Hidden Valley Ranch, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and BIGFACE Coffee Affogato in partnership with NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler.

Van Leeuwen offers quarterly seasonal specials. Spring flavors Malted Milkshake & Fries, All the Cookies, Vegan Planet Earth and Vegan Very Berry Sorbet will be available until June 1.

A limited edition doughnut ice cream sandwich will be offered exclusively at the new Darien scoop shop through a collaboration with local bakery Flour Water Salt Bread.

The sandwich is a "bombolini" — an Italian classic made with soft, buttery fried brioche dough. Guests can choose any scoop to complete their sandwich.

Ben and Pete began their ice cream journey in Fairfield County 20 years ago.

The two rented a Good Humor truck and drove it around Greenwich for two summers. With the money he made, Ben went backpacking around Asia and Europe. His travels and discovery of good food inspired the idea for an ice cream truck serving good ice cream.

Ben enlisted the help of co-founder Laura O'Neill, and Van Leeuwen was born in the form of a yellow schoop truck on the streets of New York City in 2008.

The brand's French-style ice cream, which is made with more than double the amount of egg yolks as standard ice cream, quickly gained a loyal following.

Since then, Van Leeuwen has opened up storefronts in New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington, DC, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Patch will have an exclusive look at the new Darien location on April 25.