Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Opens In Downtown Westport

WESTPORT, CT — Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, the popular scoop shop with locations in New Canaan, Darien and Greenwich, opened its newest Connecticut store in Westport this month at 31 Church Lane.

The ice cream company was founded in 2008 in New York City by brothers Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen and Laura O’Neill, who focused on French-style ice cream that is made with more than double the amount of egg yolks as standard ice cream.

Six years before NYC, the Van Leeuwens began their ice cream journey by renting a Good Humor truck, which they drove around their hometown of Greenwich during the summers of 2002 and 2003. They knew then that they were onto something, and now the company has dozens of ice cream shops around the country.

Westport was the next logical location for the Connecticut natives.

"The response has been so warm and welcoming in the surrounding towns of Greenwich, Darien and New Canaan — Westport just made sense as our next CT scoop shop," Ben Leeuwen told Patch. "Pete and I grew up in Greenwich and always dreamed of opening stores in our home state, so these scoop shops are especially meaningful to us. Right now we're focused on the Connecticut communities that we're in, but we're always on the lookout for new locations — stay tuned."

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is known for creative seasonal flavors "with a genuine focus on good ingredients and no unnecessary stuff." It also offers what it calls "out-of-the-box limited-edition collaboration flavors," such as a limited-time offering created by Westport-based cookbook author and creator Julia Dzafic. Her vegan sundae features scoops of strawberry shortcake ice cream and banana pudding ice cream, and is topped with sprinkles, hot fudge and a "party hat," also known as a sugar cone.

Other collaborations include offerings with: Hidden Valley Ranch, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, BIGFACE Coffee Affogato in partnership with NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler, and Espresso ice cream in partnership with singer/songwriter Sabrina Carpenter.

The scoop shop's menu features more than 30 signature flavors including its award-winning Vanilla Bean, Honeycomb, Pistachio, Marionberry Cheesecake, Praline Butter Cake and Earl Grey Tea. Also popular are the sundaes, housemade waffle cones, ice cream sandwiches, root beer floats, milkshakes and pints to-go.

Additional delicious vegan flavors include Banana Bread Pudding, Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb, and Strawberry Shortcake.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream in Westport is at 31 Church Lane, and is open Sunday through Thursday, noon to 11 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday, noon to 12 a.m.