June Menu to Feature Five-Course Menu for the Ultimate Summer Picnic, Sourcing Ingredients from NW Brands Including Ezell’s Famous Chicken, Sokol Blosser Wine, Smith Tea and More. Tyler Malek and Lewis Rudd will be scooping the Picnic Series at the Capitol Hill scoop shop Friday, June 17th from 6-8 pm
PORTLAND, Ore. (June 3, 2022) – Salt & Straw Ice Cream dares you to feast on the ultimate summer picnic with a new five-course menu made with ingredients from award-winning culinary heavy-hitters across the West coast, starting on Friday, June 3. Tyler Malek (Salt & Straw Co-Founder and Head Ice Cream maker) and Lewis Rudd (Ezell’s Famous Chicken Co-Founder and President) will be scooping the Summer Picnic Series at the Salt & Straw Capitol Hill scoop shop Friday, June 17th from 6-8 pm.
A Portland-founded company, Salt & Straw has partnered with top culinary artists along the west coast to create its summer picnic series, including Ezell’s Fried Chicken, Sokol Blosser Wine, Smith Tea, Stone Barn Brandyworks, Cowgirl Creamery and more.
All flavors will be available at Salt & Straw scoop shops as scoops, pints and milkshakes; as well as available for nationwide shipping through the company’s “Pints of the Month” pack or as a “Pick Your Pints” bundle. By joining the Salt & Straw Pints Club, customers may sign up for a sneak peak of the latest seasonal flavors delivered right to their doorstep before they hit scoop shops.
“This menu at Salt & Straw is all about coming together to kick-off those warm summer days,” said Tyler Malek, co-founder of Salt & Straw. “With each ice cream, we’ve partnered with our favorite award-winning culinary artists to create the most iconic picnic experience captured in five scoops of ice cream.”
Summer Picnic Series:
The grass between your toes, laying back on checkered blankets, watching the clouds between leisurely bites of your late afternoon spread. Yeah, summer is here, and we’re here for it. June is the official kick-off for long weekends and warm sunny days spent picnicking at the park, so we’ve packed this menu with everything you need for an al fresco spread. Meet The Summer Picnic Series.
Menu:
The Summer Picnic Series:
The grass between your toes, laying back on checkered blankets, watching the clouds between leisurely bites of your late afternoon spread. Yeah, summer is here, and we’re here for it. June is the official kick-off for long weekends and warm sunny days spent picnicking at the park, so we’ve packed this menu with everything you need for an alfresco spread. Meet The Summer Picnic Series.
- Pink Rosé & Watermelon Sorbet (v)
- A watermelon and rosé sorbet with a housemade raspberry jam.
- Made with Sokol Blosser Wine
Description:
Sunny days are calling, and this frosé is answering. We start with a ripe watermelon and rosé punch that we simply pour into our ice cream maker and let it coalesce into an out-of-this-world juicy sorbet. Then, we drizzle in house-made raspberry jam for a crisp tartness that carefully balances the sweetness of the wine.
About the Partner:
One of the five founding families of the Oregon wine industry, Sokol Blosser has been proudly rooted in the Willamette Wine Valley ever since 1970 when they tore up an abandoned prune orchard to plant their first grapes. The family-owned, Oregon wine pioneer finesses grapes into veritable liquid gold that’s refined, yet wholly approachable. Their bright and floral pinot noir rosé tastes just like those incredible first-to-market strawberries we all crave come early summer.
Noteworthy:
Sokol Blosser earned 2021 B Corp “Best for the World” Award for Environmental Excellence (Third Year)
First winery in the world to be Salmon-Safe Certified
- Baked Brie & Fig Cheesecake
- A whipped brie cheesecake baked onto a candied ritz cracker crust, combined with dark ribbons of sweet, thick fig jam, all mixed into a salted sweet cream ice cream.
- Made with Cowgirl Creamery
Description:
Gooey, silky, slightly funky and quite sophisticated. We start with a whipped brie cheesecake baked on a candied Ritz cracker crust with dark ribbons of sweet, thick fig jam. The rich, melt-in-your-mouth-buttery smattering of cheesecake is thanks to our friends at Cowgirl Creamery for making the most decadent local cheese on the West Coast.
About the Partner:
The award-winning cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery are crafted using organic milk from the neighboring dairies in Petaluma, all of whom are committed to regenerative agriculture. Notably, their beloved Mt. Tam (a triple cream cheese) just won the 2021 Good Food Award, adding yet another well-deserved award to its repertoire. Nicknamed “Brie’s quirky Californian cousin”, its bloomy rind, mushroom aroma, and incredible buttery texture make it the perfect partner for this creamy flavor.
- Devilled Egg Custard w/ Smoked Black Tea
- An Indian black salted custard ice cream with smoked tea shortbread crumble and peach balsamic marshmallow fluff.
- Made with Steven Smith Tea
Description:
We first had to deconstruct this classic picnic icon before we could truly dial it into dessert perfection. We started with an egg yolk custard laced with Kala Namak, an umami-rich black salt mined near the base of the Himalayas, studded with crumbles of smoked tea-infused shortbread (a fun way to mimic the classic bacon garnish). Top it off with a peach balsamic egg white marshmallow fluff and you have one of the most memorable bites of ice cream you’ll ever taste.
“We went in so many different directions to create this flavor, but I love where we landed. We took a classic deviled egg, deconstructed it and put it back together as ice cream.” – Tyler Malek
About the Partner:
Born in the back of a Northwest Portland blacksmith shop, Smith Teamaker is continuing to change the world of tea — one exceptional cup at a time. Founded by the late, legendary teamaker Steve Smith and handcrafted in Portland, Oregon, Smith Teamaker focuses on uncommonly delicious teas made from exquisite full-leaf and botanicals. Their Zheng Shan is a black tea, smoked with pine boughs, that brings an incredible complexity to this ice cream.
- Cinnamon & Honey Fried Chicken
- A spiced vanilla ice cream with bits of fried chicken croissant.
- Made with Ezell’s Fried Chicken
Description:
Slightly savory and evocatively spiced with sudden pops of crackling texture, this ice cream brings together the unprecedented marriage of ice cream and fried chicken, a marriage that the world didn’t even know it needed. We start with fresh croissants, torn into bits, deep-fried with chicken fat ‘til crispy perfection, and churn them into salted vanilla ice cream. A shake of very special (very secret) spices adds a sweet heat kick.
“Ezell’s makes the most incredible Spicy Fried Chicken. The crispy skin is iconic; their creole spice, otherworldly. So we took on the task of interpreting that into ice cream. This is probably the most complex flavor we’ve ever made. It seemed impossible, and after 10 iterations, it still seemed impossible. But Ezell’s has been with us from the start and we’ve been slowly dialing it in together.” – Tyler Malek
About the Partner:
Dubbed Oprah’s favorite fried chicken, Ezell’s Famous Chicken is undeniably the gold standard. Unmatched with its 24-hour marinade, double-battering process with secret sauce, then fried to golden perfection with a kick from cayenne heat. And when it comes to doing good in their community? They set the bar even higher. Between their 10 ongoing give-back initiatives, Ezell’s is deeply rooted in raising up their local neighborhoods.
- Chocolate Nocino Cherry Pie
- A rich, single-origin chocolate ice cream spiked with Nocino brandy and hunks of rustic cherry slab pie.
- Made with Stone Barn Brandyworks
Description:
Every party eventually comes to an end. And like any great party, we can’t leave without an epic dessert pairing. Enter cherry slab pie and local-made digestif. For this partnership, we looked to Stone Barn Distillery and their world-famous, three year-aged, green walnut liqueur called Nocino made from hand-picked Oregon walnuts. A healthy splash of that nocino brings intrigue to a single-origin chocolate ice cream with hunks of rustic cherry slab pie.
About the Partner:
Stone Barn Brandyworks likes to keep things local. Hyper-local, in fact. For their Nocino, Stone Barn Brandyworks hits the streets, scouring their neighborhood for well-laden walnut trees. They turn their harvest into a dark, fruitcake-like digestif (similar to a sweet vermouth) by aging in pinot noir, brandy, and rye whiskey barrels, spiked with vanilla, cinnamon, and other warm spices.
“Distilling is a craft that requires so much patience, planning, and care, these guys literally need to distill 10,000 lbs of pears just to fill one barrel! I’ve loved Stone Barn Distillery since the first moment I met them at the Portland farmers market. They are the poster child for small batch and have invited me multiple times into their small SE Portland location to help distill brandies. There is an art to brandy making that I dream about and have a deep affinity to knowing how similar it is to ice cream making. As Sebastian pulls brandy from the still, he shows he can taste it over the course of the hour that it takes to pull… telling me about the harshness of the first pull, how it mellows out once you get to heart and how, for a moment in time, the brandy is a perfect distillation of pears where you can taste the soul of the fruit. The brandies and liqueurs from Sebastian and Erika make for some of my favorite ingredients in the entire world, they bring intrigue to a scoop of ice cream and are a true treasure to behold.” – Tyler Malek
ABOUT SALT & STRAW ICE CREAM
Salt & Straw Ice Cream is a Portland-based, family-run ice cream company that was founded in 2011 by cousins Kim & Tyler Malek. Salt & Straw makes unbelievably delicious ice creams that tell the narrative of artisans, meaningful food movements and important social causes. The company creates a unique menu that changes every four weeks, makes ice cream by hand in small batches and designs a generous store experience that’s personalized and welcoming. The debut Salt & Straw Cookbook was released in April 2019, published by Clarkson Potter. Salt & Straw presently has three scoop shops in the Seattle area, in Ballard, Capitol Hill and Totem Lake. Pint packs are available for online purchase, and can be shipped anywhere in the United States as well as through the Salt & Straw Pints Club.
Find more information at www.saltandstraw.com, or call 503-954-1458. Follow us on Facebook at Salt and Straw Ice Cream, Twitter and Instagram: @SaltandStraw.
ABOUT EZELL’S FAMOUS CHICKEN
Ezell’s Famous Chicken is family-owned and operated, founded in Seattle 38 years ago, serving up chicken, sides and more made fresh from scratch at each location. Started by one sister and two sets of brothers from East Texas, today founders Lewis Rudd, Darnell Rudd and their sister Faye Stephens are still active in day to day operations, joined by an extended family of 300 employees. After waiting six years for initial funding, the family opened their first store on February 3, 1984 in Seattle’s Central District. Since opening, Ezell’s has made many famous friends including Oprah Winfrey, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Quincy Jones, Norm from “Cheers”, Danny Glover, George Foreman and the Seattle Seahawks, and has established a strong tradition of giving back to the community. In August 2021, Lewis Rudd and his brother Darnell Rudd, along with their sister Faye Stephens, introduced the Rudd’s R.U.B.B. (Raising Up Black Businesses) Initiative, a precedent-setting initiative designed to financially empower Black-owned businesses in the Pacific Northwest. Ezell’s now counts 18 fast casual locations; 16 Seattle-area restaurants, one in Spokane, Washington and one in Tigard, Oregon. More information on Ezell’s Famous Chicken can be found by visiting https://ezellschicken.com.
