Little Baby’s: Tricycle-Powered Artisanal Ice Cream

Before the current mobile food explosion, before Korean tacos, tricked-out cupcakes and Twitter feeds, there were ice cream trucks. Few people can hear the familiar high-pitched jingle without their mouth watering in anticipation of a cool, sweet treat. Starting May 21, Philadelphians can satisfy that instinctive impulse with a premium experience when the Little Baby’s Ice Cream tricycle hits the streets.

When musician and artist Pete Angevine, 26, was looking for a new outlet for his creativity, he reached out to old friends Jeff Ziga and Martin Brown, and together they hit upon the idea for Little Baby’s. Using dairy products from local PA and NJ farms, they’re hand-crafting unique flavors like Balsamic-Banana and Cardamom Caramel into delectable creams, which they’ll serve for around $3 per cone or biodegradable cup. The pedal-powered three-wheeler will play custom tunes as it makes the rounds of fairs, festivals and concerts (follow on Twitter to keep track of locations).

We caught up to Pete recently to ask more about what’s in store for us this summer.

Zagat Buzz: Why ice cream?

Pete Angevine: Ice cream makes people happy and it brings people together. You have to look pretty hard to find a person with an ice cream cone alone and sad. And it’s creative – I've come to recognize it as a blank canvas. You can let your imagination run wild with flavors and ingredients and it will be good almost every time.

ZB: Ok, then, why a tricycle?

PA: At first it just seemed like the option with the lowest overhead, although setting it up has been slightly trickier than we initially thought. But we're all bicycle enthusiasts and have a serious commitment to the environment. Also, it's definitely the most absurd vessel for our strange treats we could muster, and absurdity is an important element to the entire gestalt of Little Baby's.

ZB: Tell us about the trike. Who built it? How does it work?

PA: An amazing sculptor, Jordan Griska, has been helping us build it out. It’s a bit complicated because we’re required to have hot, running water on board. So, we've built in storage for many gallons of water, a pump, a water heater, a freezer, speakers and lights, all powered by an electric generator. It's extremely heavy, but luckily Jeff is a strong guy (we’ll let him do most of the pedaling).

ZB: What about the music you’ll be playing?

PA: I got my hands on a real Mr. Softee music box, which is actually the old-fashioned kind with a rotating cylinder and pins and tuned teeth! My friend Jon Guez and I hacked it and created a program that makes the music generative, meaning it never repeats and never ends. Eventually we hope to figure out how to make it interactive, so people hanging around the trike can contribute to the music and change it. We're aiming to bring an immersive multimedia environment with us wherever we go; a zone where positivity and fantasy and weirdness abound.

ZB: What flavors can we expect?

PA: We'll have an ever-evolving and rotating menu of flavors, but here are a few that we're excited about so far: Balsamic Banana, Cardamom Caramel, Birch Beer Vanilla Bean, Earl Grey Sriracha, Red Bean + Rice Krispies, Peanut Butter Maple Tarragon, Bourbon Bourbon Vanilla, Coffee Toffee, Coconut Tea. Some of these are non-dairy (vegan). Developing and expanding our non-dairy menu is a priority for us. We’ll also gladly take suggestions for new flavor combinations from our customers!

ZB: What exactly will you serve, and how will you serve it?

PA: We're going to start simple with just scoops, but we're already working on some surprising toppings, ice cream sandwiches, milkshakes and fancy ice cream sodas with ginger beer or Jarritos. For now, our cones will be of the familiar sugar variety, though we do have plans to eventually create some conelike objects that are sure to alter the course of modern human history. Our bowls and spoons are 100% compostable, made by a company called Stalk Market. They’re a lot more expensive and inconvenient than standard paper/plastic, but it's a burden we're willing to bear.

ZB: Will we find your ice cream at any Philly retail locations?

PA: We don't have the capacity yet to do too much retail or wholesaling this season, but we will be selling over the counter at Pizza Brain, the coming Fishtown cafe from our good friend Brian Dwyer. They'll be helping us out with space – a production facility, storage, tricycle parking, etc. We’re looking forward to creating some custom desserts for them, and, of course, some pizza-flavored ice cream. After we get our bearings, look out for us at one Center City restaurant and one boutique grocery as well.

ZB: How soon can we get our hands on some?

PA: Our official launch is May 21 at the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival/Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby. We couldn't imagine a more fitting and ideal event to kick this off. See you there!