Sweet Science Ice Cream is moving to Edina's 50th-and-France neighborhood.
"I'm tired of this being a secret," said owner Ashlee Olds with a laugh. "There are so many cute new little shops over there, and ice cream is the perfect milling-around, going-for-a-stroll food. It's such a great community, and for me, ice cream is so much about community."
The scoop shop is going into the Nolan Mains mixed-use development (3945 Market St.), which features residences above ground-floor retail. It's taking a spot that's adjacent to another food destination, the Lynhall No. 3945, and faces an off-the-street plaza that's tailor-made for outdoor ice cream consumption.
Indoor seating will be added, post-pandemic, and the shop's case will accommodate up to 22 flavors of Olds' all-natural ice creams, including what is a first for her, a vegan ice cream.
"We're putting the finishing touches on it," she said. "I think we're on to something, but it's difficult to nail down, because we're committed to not using artificial stabilizers. Hopefully we'll always have one vegan ice cream in the case. We always have sorbets."
During its initial seven years, Sweet Science was strictly in the wholesale business. Olds opened her first ice cream cone stand in St. Paul's Como Park in 2018.
"I had to figure out how to scoop," she said. "I was an expert at putting it in a pint."
She later shifted her scoop setup to a counter at the Keg and Case Market (928 W. 7th St., St. Paul). That location is now closed.
"It's sad that we're not going to be in St. Paul," said Olds. "It's where we started 10 years ago, and it's where I live. We'll scoop there again someday."
Sweet Science isn't leaving St. Paul entirely. The company's production facility is in the city's Dayton's Bluff neighborhood (705 E. 3rd St.), and Olds plans to offer Saturday curbside pickup at that location.
(Sweet Science pints are available at most Twin Cities natural foods co-ops, Kowalski's Markets and Whole Foods Markets, as well as at the Golden Fig in St. Paul).
The Edina shop is currently under construction. Flavors along the lines of toasted coconut-caramel-chocolate chip, lime curd-white chocolate and salted caramel swirl should be going into gluten-free waffle cones by the end of May.
"Everyone is in such a good mood when they're around ice cream," said Olds. "That's what I fell in love with when I started creating this product, because it brings people together to experience joy and happiness. You want to bottle that feeling."
Rick Nelson • @RickNelsonStrib
