Give A Warm Welcome to a Cool Couple

Photo by Barney Taxel, Taxel Image Group

I can't get enough ice cream when the weather's hot. Those days are behind us for the next eight or nine months, but some ice cream is just too good to be merely a seasonal pleasure. The luscious stuff Jesse Mason makes falls into that category. And Mason's Creamery now has a brand new home, open year round, in the former Ohio City Ice Cream on Bridge Avenue. Neither snow nor sleet nor cold temperatures will keep me from enjoying it.

Photo by Barney Taxel, Taxel Image Group

I wrote about this quickly successful and wildly popular upstart business in July 2013. After breaking into Cleveland market as nomads, peddling their frozen wares at farmer markets and special events like the Cleveland Flea, Mason, a local man returned from the West Coast, and Helen Qin, his partner in ice cream and all things, took over the shuttered stand earlier this year. They put in a lot of time and sweat into remodeling the place and have done a bang-up job. It looks great, but like many such undertakings, it was harder than they expected and took longer than they thought it would. Instead of opening in the spring as planned, they couldn't officially welcome customers until last week. I was there earlier with my husband for a private, friends and family soft opening. I can say it was worth the wait.

There's a nice roofed-over patio out front (heaters going in soon) and plans for a garden space in back. There's still a walk up ordering window, good for people with dogs, but now you can also walk inside and check out what's in the cooler. They've even managed to fit a few small tables inside.

Photo by Barney Taxel, Taxel Image Group

We sampled an intense and fruity Apple Cider sorbet, two ice creams, a chunky peanut butter smores and coffee and cream — which I just love — made with custom-roasted Rising Star beans. Old City Soda, another local start-up, will supply the necessary fizz for floats

There's still some good weather days left when eating ice cream is a natural. And when the thermometer does read below zero, and the very idea of dipping into a chilly treat makes you shiver, consider this: Mason has created the perfect winter flavor: Hot Chocolate with Marshmallow Fluff.