The cheery, whimsical sign went up last fall, teasing dessert lovers with the promise of a new specialty ice cream shop in the Perkins Road Overpass District. Then a few weeks ago, along came more decorative finishes and picnic tables, suggesting the wait would soon be over.
Now, Gail’s Fine Ice Cream will finally—officially—open on Monday, March 21, say owners Nick Hufft and Lon Marchand, who also own Curbside and The Overpass Merchant in Baton Rouge, Junior’s on Harrison and the original Gail’s in New Orleans. The diminutive Perkins Road shop will serve 16 flavors of small batch artisan ice cream, fresh waffle cones, sundaes, shakes and specialty coffee drinks made with French Truck Coffee.
Hufft had eyed the location for years, centrally positioned in the restaurant-rich district, before signing a lease. He says it’s the perfect spot for catching post-dinner traffic.
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“We saw this as a place you could come after having dinner at The Merchant, BLDG 5 or Chow Yum Phat or wherever,” Hufft says. “It’s a place you can go to enjoy a cortado or an espresso or some ice cream for you or your kids.”
The Gail’s New Orleans outpost opened in 2020 as a concept incubated inside Junior’s on Harrison. The new Baton Rouge store, Hufft says, will serve as Hufft Marchand Hospitality’s official prototype for future Gail’s locations. Hufft is mum on where those might be, but says an additional Gail’s could open in Baton Rouge sometime in 2022.
The concept is both elevated and nostalgic. A friendly color palette in cool hues signals simplicity and childhood innocence. But wrapped in the disarming vibe is carefully made ice cream meant to stand out for its rich, creamy texture and inventive flavors.
Six months ago, Hufft and Marchand brought on board New Orleans-based pastry chef Rachel Caprera to help them retool their restaurant group’s pastry program and develop Gail’s menu. Caprera’s career has included stints in both savory and pastry at Commander’s Palace, and working in pastry at Restaurant August under well-known pastry chef Kelly Fields. Caprera also helped Fields open the popular bakery café, Willa Jean in 2015.
Caprera returned to August and worked in subsequent stints in hospitality and tourism field before hooking up with Hufft and Marchand in 2021. Since then, she’s been at work reimagining desserts for the restaurant group and creating original ice cream flavors for Gail’s.
Vanilla Bean and Milk Chocolate are perennial favorites at the New Orleans location, but don’t expect anything ordinary. Caprera uses real Madagascar vanilla, scraped from pods, to create a fragrant take on this bedrock classic. For the milk chocolate, she deploys “extra brute” cocoa powder, resulting in a final product whose flavor mimics a Wendy’s Frosty, she says.
“We want our ice cream to taste like memories,” Caprera says.
The Fresh Strawberry is made with, yes, fresh Louisiana strawberries while they last. And the Lemon Berry Icebox Pie features homemade lemon curd and berry compote, each one striped into the ice cream base. Crumbled graham crackers are also thrown in to mimic pie crust.
Caprera’s personal passion for coffee is translated into the Cortado Crunch, a flavor made with single origin French Truck Coffee steeped for 24-hours, along with broken bits of Heath Bar. She’s also developed a refined mint chip, absent of food coloring and made with fresh mint, finely chopped. What’s wrong with the electric green kind, you might ask? Not a thing. You can also order it here in all its green glory. Or if blue’s more your shade, opt for Little Monsters, Caprera’s vanilla bean ice cream dyed azure and studded with bits of Oreos.
The secret to Gail’s cream texture is high butterfat, Caprera says. She adds extra butter to the milk and cream used in each batch. Salt is also key, since the right amount keeps the sweetness in check.
“What I really love is when desserts are balanced,” Caprera says.
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Fans of Curbside’s homemade chocolate chip cookies will find them blended into Gail’s Milk and Cookies flavor. And be on the lookout for Gail’s ice cream sandwiches, made with those same cookies served at Gail’s and both Curbside and The Merchant.
Gail’s will also feature pints of any flavor to go.
While the official opening date is March 21, stay tuned to social media for possible sneak previews. To learn more, head to gailsfineicecream.com.