• KindKreme Vegan Ice Cream opens in Los Angeles!

    120
    May 10th, 2010quarrygirlkindkreme, LA restaurants

    UPDATE: NiceCream has changed its name to KindKreme!

    after a long, long wait the day is finally here! nicecream vegan ice cream in studio city has opened its doors, and wow……this place is PHENOMENAL.

    vegan soft serve topped with raw cacao nibs

    today marked the very first day of business for LA’s only entirely dairy-free ice cream parlour, and of course we were there to check it out…

    nicecream galore!

    now before i go all crazy talking about how delicious this place was and how much enticing stuff they have on the HUGE menu, i just want to point out that nicecream is not entirely vegan—some of the flavors contain honey. at the moment, all of the honey-containing varieties are currently marked, except for “strawberry.” the owner told me that they are going to make a new sign to mark that one too, and it should all be labeled very clearly by their grand opening on saturday. she also told me that all the honey used in nicecream products is obtained through cruelty-free means at a local facility. i don’t know what your stance on honey is (i don’t eat it, and i think it’s vile and unvegan), but that’s not what we are here to talk about. glad that’s out of the way, now let’s get down to the nicecream!

    what struck my eye when i first walked in, was the huge vegan soft serve machine. it is very hard to come by dairy-free soft serve in LA, so this thing was an instant matter of interest. the friendly employee behind the counter saw my excitement and immediately offered me a sample. with just one bite, this stuff changed everything i know about vegan soft serve. it was thick and flavorful, dense yet fluffy, oh man….fucking perfect. the best soft serve i’ve ever had, hands down. i’d like to install one of these machines in my house and pump its crazy-good ice cream down my throat on a daily basis. i don’t know how nicecream manages to make it all vegan, raw, and organic…but it’s totally mind-blowing.

    there were many more insane-sounding dishes that i can’t wait to try out next time. milkshakes, banana splits, and ice cream sandwiches just to name a few. check out the menu:

    nicecream menu: CLICK TO ENLARGE!

    they also had a large selection of vegan ice cream to go…

    (via nicecream's facebook page)

    a counter full of delicious-looking treats…

    a team of 3 lovely and helpful ladies…

    (via nicecream's facebook page)

    and free parking for vegan ice cream lovers…

    seriously, THIS PLACE IS AWESOME! get there as soon as you can, and be sure to make it to the grand opening on 5/15.

    i love the idea of nicecream in general, and their huge menu and incredible desserts make me love them even more. if only this place would switch to agave!!!!!

    nicecream vegan ice cream
    3701 cahuenga blvd.
    studio city, ca 91604
    818-308-6758

    Mon – Thurs: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
    Fri – Sat: 10:00 am – 10:00 pm
    Sun: 10:00 am – 7:00 pm

    follow them on twitter!
    friend them on facebook!

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111 responses to “KindKreme Vegan Ice Cream opens in Los Angeles!” RSS icon

  • this is my lunch tomorrow. all of it.

  • Cool, this is right next to Poquito Mas and Sunpower. I started following them on Twitter a few days ago but didn’t think they were open until the 15th!

  • What is the ice cream made out of?

  • Ice cream sandwich! That’s what I’m talking about. How much are the pints?

  • Omg Omg Omg Omg I will be living at this place!!!!!!!
    I am overjoyed and enthused beyond anything you guys can imagine!!!!

  • Wow – It’s about time this place opened! This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for the beautiful report! : )

  • YAY SO freaking excited! My best friend is taking me to SunPower tomorrow for an early bday dinner and you know we will be having dessert here! Finally!

  • hey i loved your review!!! i was also there today and i learned that most of their flavor are sweetened with agave ; )

  • WTF? Princess. I want this right now!!!!!

  • This place looks AWESOME! I can’t wait to check it out!

  • Darn my sister and her nut allergies, I will just have to sneak a trip without her I guess, looks delicious.

  • I hope they’re committed to keeping that soft serve machine clean. Those things can be the Perfect Storm for bacteria.

  • @sj I happen to know that most of the ice cream subs in nuts for dairy. I think coconuts and some soy is used as well. It’s very rich.

  • In my efforts to go green and conserve fuel, I try and consolidate my errands/car trips as much as possible. So I’m trying desperately to think of a reason to go to Studio City tomorrow, there must be something I need to do over there. Hehe.

  • Are those munchkins in the dessert offerings?

  • Excuse me, but honey is by no means vegan. Bees are cruelly factory-farmed and destroyed as their product is farmed:

    http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=122

    This is an omnivorous place with vegan options, nothing more.

  • Bawww. Rather than bitch and whine about how omni you think the place is for having a few things with bee vomit (and labeled as such), how about you just call it a raw place that’s mostly vegan? (Or for those that have to label everything, “beegan.”)

    As for me, I’m going to stuff my face with awesomeness and STFU instead.

  • Buffingtonpost May 11th, 2010 at 07:38

    REBOOTED the honey they use is not factory farmed. A relative of theirs keeps bees. If you believe all bee keeping is cruel, fine. But do a little research before you try to slander someone. Spastic cynics like you make it impossible for even vegetarian ideals to gain a foothold, let alone the vegan lifestyle.

    Also, do a little research on how bee cultivation helps grow crops.

  • @Buffingtonpost and @rebooted

    Animals are NOT ours to keep in captivity for our own ends. Bees should be flying around free, not artificially constrained in a cage (“bee keeping” IS factory farming, BTW). The very act of removing the honeycombs is damaging to the bees, and many are killed in the process, as well as from being overheated in an artificial environment designed to make them produce as much honey as possible. The entire thing is akin to hens who are forced to lay eggs.

    @Buffingtonpost: I bet a million dollars you are one of the people who has an interest in this store, and the fact you’d come here and use the word “spastic” (meaning a person with the awful disease of cerebral palsy) is a terrible indictment of who you are.

    HONEY IS NOT VEGAN. KEEPING BEES IS TERRIBLY CRUEL.

  • They need to change the name to -‘NiceCream Ice Cream’ and leave the word “vegan” out of it.

  • If I had a cock I’d be fully erect right now.

  • Bees are also dying of whack freak outs that scientists don’t fully understand. How about you bee activists spend less time surfing the web and more time saving precious bee lives.

  • Oh man this place sounds awesome. I hope they lower their prices. $10 for a small banana split is insanity. A large sundae better be extra special for $12.99. Lulas in Nyc 3 scoop banana split is $8.50 vs $12.99 at nice cream in L.A. Everyone knows L.A. is cheaper than NY.

  • Regardless of what you think about bees – “vegan” has a definition and it does not include honey.

  • How do bees collect pollen if they are not allowed to fly and are trapped in “cages”?

    Here’s a thought guys – instead of stomping our feet maybe we should just encourage stores like this to use other sweeteners. If most of their products are raw and vegan it probably won’t be that hard for them to switch over the few products that contain honey.

  • Wow. This place looks pretty sweet. Can’t wait to check it out! I’ll probbaly be visiting this place a lot when summer comes. Soon!

  • I am here to speak for the bees. We do appreciate any concern for our welfare but you need not worry. We (the girls) fly about freely gathering nectar and pollen. It’s all we know how to do and it’s not like we’d take a vacation once we had a store of food for the hive. Sometimes things get crazy and we overpopulate our home. What do we do? We raise a new queen and about half of us head out with her to find a new home (not a wonderful proposition.) In a well run apiary population is monitored and half of us can be given a new home complete with wax foundation (so much easier than starting from scratch.)
    I trust all of you who object to our “exploitation” never ride in a car (insect destruction can be fierce;) watch every step you take while walking (your footfalls can be fatal to us and our friends) and don’t screen your home to keep out our cousins.

  • Holy shit! I had no idea this was opening! WANT.

  • Honeybee …. there is someone sane here after all !! 🙂

  • Oh, hell. Are they really going to start with the “Do you drive a car? Do you use plastic? Oil?” etc. crap???

    VEGANS do NOT use honey no matter how nicely one claims to treat the bees. Look up Donald Watson – the man who coined the term – and see the official definition.

    Now officially a place we will not visit.

  • Veganinla….. get a grip !

  • Wow, some of you people are really spoiled brats. Most cities in the U.S. don’t have the luxury of a mostly vegan ice cream shop. Do you shop at 100% vegan grocery stores too?

    Look, I avoid honey, but I also try to avoid making vegans look like a bunch of judgmental douchebags too.

  • i hope that none of you honey avoiding radicals dare enter in a venue where a dj is spinning vinyl records, burn all of your family photos (pre-digital camera) and generally clear your lives of all sin.

    bees are disappearing and soon your vegetables won’t be pollinated. thank god that some people know how to raise them so that you won’t be without your veggies.

    enjoy your specialty foods shipped in controlled temperature vehicles from long distances– isn’t gardein made in canada? the reason why dr. cow cheese is so expensive is because of the climate controlled shipping process. these things are SURELY great for the environment *sarcasm*.

  • Kevin, obviously we don’t shop at 100% vegan grocery stores. But, they also don’t market themselves as vegan grocery stores. You can not call your shop a vegan ice cream shop if the flavors contain honey. I don’t care if it’s one flavor, or all of them. It’s a dairy free ice cream shop with vegan options. Scoops doesn’t call themselves a vegan ice cream shop. That’ because they aren’t vegan, but they DO have vegan options. It’s no different in this case, except for the fact that NiceCream labels themselves as VEGAN ice cream.

  • Seconding Kevin. I’m recently vegan and I’ve found it very difficult to separate myself from the Vegan Police that everyone thinks of when I mention my veganism. There are shades of veganism, and not everyone can sit on the very top all the time. I’d rather be a cheating vegan and support a business that gets it mostly right from the START, than boycott to make myself feel righteous. You’re helping no one, no animals, or bees with an attitude like that.

  • Wow. I knew when I saw this post today that people would be throwing a shit fit about the whole honey thing.

    Is honey vegan? No. You don’t need to be on a vegan high horse to see that.

    Do I think they should change the name of the place? I don’t really care. I don’t live in L.A., I’ll probably never go to this place, and I’ve eaten honey on occasion because I’m not going to skip out on breakfast because my mom accidentally bought the Kellogg’s brand of Raisin Brand instead of Post. Oh, and I could probably read the labels at the ice cream place.

    Is it still a huge step for animals, the environment, and the health of humans that there is a completely milk and egg free ice cream facility? If you say “no” to that, you should probably get off your vegan high horse.

    Yes, a person CAN make a difference in the world just by minimizing their use of animal products.

    That’s why when people ask me questions about my lifestyle, I don’t whine about bee feelings. Because that’s when vegans sound stupid. The general public will never empathize with bees. Or cows or fish or chickens. It sucks, but it’s the truth.

    I remind them that if they’re trying to have 2 vegetarian meals a day, or if they’re trying to buy locally raised meats, or if they’re making an effort to just learn more about where food comes from, it’s a step in the right direction.

    I wonder if I’m going to vegan hell for eating refined sugar, not checking how my local wines are filtered, or not drilling my waiter for which types of mono and diglycerides (“IS IT ANIMAL FAT OR VEGETABLE BASED?! THIS NEEDS TO LOOK LIKE A SACRIFICE ON MY PART.”) are used in the dinner roles at my table.

    If you want saving animals to look doable, MAKE IT LOOK FRIENDLY. Veganism doesn’t have to be a martyr effort.

    If the place was a dairy establishment that had vegan options, would people still be boycotting it?

    @vlad– you have a great idea. Why can’t everyone just be productive and write the store owners and email?

  • By boycotting a new restaurant that is obviously on the vegan track, an opportunity is wasted. Vote with your dollar. Ask what products they have contain/don’t contain honey, buy products without honey, and matters will take care of themselves. Militant stances are only good for war.

  • After I’m done with training for my half marathon, I am going to go here and buy three banana splits and eat them all at once. IT IS GONNA BE GREAT.

  • Does a “true vegan diet” contain honey? By definition, no.

    Should the company call themselves vegan if they use honey? No.

    Do these two things mean that the company is horrible now? No.

    They are doing something mostly great and you can simply just buy something without the honey in it.

  • It seems like many vegans on here have a bit of a ego problem …. im vegan most of the time and love a bit of honey on my toast yum ! So what …. bees are tiny insects compared to cows and pigs …. keep spreading the honey mummy 🙂

  • Im with you Kevin.

    At some point you gotta give. Be thankful you live in a place where you even have the option and not living in freakin nowhere town, USA where no could give a rats ass about us.

  • LOL at almost everyone, save a few. No, you are NOT vegan if you willingly eat honey. If you don’t treat all animals as equals including insects, then you certainly are not vegan. No, the place should NOT call themselves vegan if they have honey in their product. No, that does NOT make them horrible, and I will still contribute to them, as they are a step in the right direction. I still don’t think they should be called a vegan ice cream parlour, though!

  • Is NiceCream vegan?

    yes.

    Honey people–chill out. This place will turn many people into vegans because people will see they can be vegan and still eat their precious ice cream!

    Stoked!

  • Having only been vegan for two months, I’m already very soured to the negative attitudes that prevail in this community. Granted, that doesn’t actually make them the majority, only the loudest and most abrasive. Some of us are just starting the race. We can’t all hang out at the finish line with our special TRUE VEGAN jackets. The least you can do is fight amongst yourselves for superiority and let the rest of us go at our own pace.

  • adrian, i suggest that you consider for a moment that large scale farming of any kind– even of vegetables— clears out the natural way that animals live. it displaces the animals who are already living on a pre-farm area so that you can eat vegetables. grow a garden that fully sustains your needs and then you will be a real vegan.

  • @Alex LOL

  • hai love and Alex …. thank you ! what you are saying makes a lot of sense ….. its good to see some folk on here have not gone over the top with their high and mighty veganism (i was begining to worry that i was the only normal person on here !! 🙂

  • You’re ridiculous, Adrian.

    Where does it say all animals should be treated as equals in order to be considered “vegan”. Maybe we should just give all the animals voting rights, then? Jesus.

    People need to stop using “vegan” as a blanket statement. If you live in a house, drive a car, shop at a grocery store then you’re not vegan by your own standards. Because in doing all of those things you’ve “consumed” animal products in some way.

    Instead of arguing semantics and boycotting places that are far more progressive than the vast majority of ice cream parlors/restaurants/grocery stores in this country, why don’t you spend your time doing something more productive?

    There’s nothing more annoying than “holier than thou” attitudes.

  • I think Terrible Toal is on point.

    You can’t expect to make any sort of real difference if you just look like a whiney asshole. Your plight will appeal to no one and your cause will be lost.

    Better to celebrate even small improvements, it’s far more than most are doing and when met with praise, appreciation and a simpler approach it’s much more likely to appeal to the masses… which, it sounds like, some people haven’t seemed to quite figure out is important in order to make any sort of significant difference.

  • Lets make it simple.

    you can call yourself a vegan and eat honey but you can’t sell a product with honey in it and certify it vegan.

    however even certified vegan products can be made in a factory with shared eggs & dairy equipment.

    You actually don’t want to get too technical when you argue exactly what a vegan is because when you sincerely look in the mirror you’re likely to see even the strictest vegan has several faults.

    also to those who think there is some little cute cuddly vegan community rest assured it’s filled with a bunch of assholes like the rest of the world.

  • “im vegan most of the time” – classic.

  • In my opinion, it’s not about what vegan is more pure than the other. It is literally impossible to be 100% vegan. Most of you drive cars, I’ve probably unknowingly stepped on a bug, etc. Going out of your way to eat honey is not vegan no matter how you slice it. Especially when there are substitutes out there that are just as good. Agave, maple syrup and whatnot. Veganism isn’t a purity contest, it’s about doing your absolute best to avoid the exploitation of animals.

  • If you go by the wikipedia definition of being vegan, then no, technically some of these products are not “vegan.”

    However, the fact that LA now has not one but TWO ice cream places with vegan options is pretty awesome, and should be supported.

    For those of you who have a problem with SOME of the flavors that have honey – don’t order them. POLITELY explain to the person behind the counter that honey is technically not vegan, and suggest they find an alternative (like agave). That would probably be a better use of time than bitching about it on a message board.

  • To all of you anti-honey zealots:

    I hope you guys only eat organic food because way more bugs are killed by conventional farming methods than by the harvesting of organic, fair trade/local honey.

    And yes, honey technically is not vegan, but by being so militant and obnoxious about it you are pushing people away from veganism.

    Plus, agave nectar is not natural out all and is possibly worse for your health than high fructose corn syrup. Enjoy! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/agave-this-sweetener-is-f_b_537936.html

  • Use maple syrup then, whatever.

  • your vegetables are fertilized with steer manure! OH THE HUMANITY!

  • “annaliese” has proved again, and again that she/he is a grade A ignoramus. Oh the huge manatee!

  • I like turtles.

  • First of all, how about we stop harping on “I’m more vegan than you because of this!” and appreciate everyone who’s making a valiant effort for the well being of animals? Because if we’re going by that, then let’s measure yer veganness by the last time you were mislead by ingredients in something or the last time you stepped on an ant, or got rid of a cockroach, etc. Because by those guidelines, no one here has been vegan more than a week, tops. Being vegan is about doing as much as you can for the animals by your moral code, not a status symbol to make you better than someone else, and I don’t feel making someone feel bad about their guidelines is the way to go; and it certainly doesn’t make you more vegan.

    And second of all, $13 for a banana split is absolutely frickin’ ridiculous! Anyone who spends that much for a banana split is out of their minds; I know for a fact, no banana split is worth that much. I mean, it’s cool that there’s another vegan ice cream joint around, but I think we’re getting a little glutinous here.

  • I like kittens

  • just this weekend i was dreaming about a shop to get vegan sundaes…but not with such a price tag. i’m not saying i wouldn’t go here…i’m fully into trying it and supporting a mostly vegan establishment. but being so expensive does kind of take the fun out of it. i mean why would i pay $4 for scoop of ice cream when i could get a whole carton of it for nearly as much? or spend $2 on scoops. i hope they get hip to the fact that many overpriced vegan establishments change their ways or face going out of business.

  • zombie kid = best comment ever

  • I agree with Brittany.

    Also, honey-haters (i don’t eat honey either): Don’t order the stuff with honey in it.

    Yay! That was easy.

  • NiceCream just posted a statement about their use of honey. Read it here: http://www.nicecreamveganicecream.com/honey.pdf

    They make a good point in regards to the products being raw…

  • First off, huge thanks to quarrygirl for the amazing love and the wonderful review! After all the hard work and special care that we’ve put into our product it is nice to know that people actually like it 🙂

    We were prepared for the honey debate that is happening in the comments section of this post, although perhaps not on the first day we were soft open!

    We have the utmost respect for vegans who choose not to eat honey, and the majority of our flavors are sweetened with agave and are 100% vegan.

    We have released a statement to help explain our philosophies and our use of honey in a select few of our products. You can read this statement on our Facebook page or download a PDF here: http://bit.ly/92V8pp

    Thanks again for the love and support, we hope to see you all soon!

  • Studiodrome says:

    “Lets make it simple.”

    agreed.

    “you can call yourself a vegan and eat honey”

    disagree.

    “but you can’t sell a product with honey in it and certify it vegan.
    however even certified vegan products can be made in a factory with shared eggs & dairy equipment.”

    agreed. it is safe to assume that shared equipment is WASHED between runs.

    “You actually don’t want to get too technical when you argue exactly what a vegan is because when you sincerely look in the mirror you’re likely to see even the strictest vegan has several faults.”

    yes and no. knowingly eating something that contains animal products as a major component, including honey is not vegan, by definition.

    Eating something made in a factory that makes dairy products, or eating something made on equipment used to make dairy products is different then willfully and knowingly eating something that isn’t vegan (e.g. honey). I’m not talking about someone in a kitchen lying to your face saying food is vegan, i’m talking about what is reasonable. yes if you eat at non-vegan restaurants, you might eat non-vegan food, or if you eat at “Hollywood vegan” the same is true. This isn’t necessarily willful like “oh this has honey, bombs away and down the hatch!” so be careful throwing rocks in mirrors.

    “also to those who think there is some little cute cuddly vegan community rest assured it’s filled with a bunch of assholes like the rest of the world.”

    just because someone’s knickers get up in a twist because they think honey is vegan, and in reality the person who coined the definition and started the vegan society said that honey isn’t vegan isn’t me being an asshole, it’s having a sense of respect and pride for a belief system that actually means something to me more than just being a trendy label.

    if you’re a new vegan or an aspiring vegan (and i don’t mean Studiodrome, since i don’t know the answer) then best of luck and welcome aboard, if you’re new to this you’ll make mistakes and you’ll decide for yourself what path and how serious you are about taking it will be. this may or may not include eating honey, or other things, but if that is the case, then ultimately you’re not vegan. it isn’t me thumbing my nose at you, it’s an honest reality check.

    to many people on here:
    in all things you should be confident with the decisions you make, there is no need to twist something into something that it isn’t – to make yourself feel good or comfortable. if you eat honey, you eat honey, you’re vegetarian, no need to cry fowl over it, you’re doing better than the majority of the world, and it doesn’t imply that being a good vegan is the best thing you can do either for the world or those around you either!

    it’s a word with a definition and a meaning. if i was vegetarian and someone next to me said they ate fish and were a vegetarian i would have a equally righteous sense of indignation. it’s not about being an asshole, it’s about having standards and being honest.

  • Schramm
    let me sum it up for you.

    -people can call themselves whatever they want. ex. I know several vegans who wear used leather. they can call themselves vegans if they want you can call them whatever you like. Doing the most you can do to not participate in animal cruelty is what veganism is all about to me personally. To you it might be aspiring to the absolute definition.

    -also definitions can be interpreted by individuals.

    -this is also really cool because you don’t have to hear other people tell you what you are and what you aren’t.

    -But if you want a product to be certified vegan there are actually rules and regulations.

    -In other words there is not really much to argue.

  • For those who think NiceCream should be a ‘non-dairy shop with some vegan options’, wouldn’t it make more sense for it to be a vegan shop with a few non-vegan options? Only a few of the products actually have honey in them and they are clearly labelled. Their advertisement does say ‘Raw, Organic, Vegan Ice Cream and More!’ I think this is a case of beggars being choosers. Many vegans I know complain about the lack of available vegan options, and here is a shop with almost an entirely vegan menu and people are still complaining! Get over yourselves. If you aren’t happy with it, then take your money to the vegan ice cream shop down the street…oh wait.

  • The reason it’s so expensive is because it’s raw. If you think vegan food is overpriced, take a look in the crazy raw section of a store sometime. It’s crazy ridiculous (or should I say, rawdiculous) when you see stuff like 4 Oreo-style cookies for like 8 bucks.

    The markup on niche diet foods is insane. You know the stuff we buy would be a fraction of the cost if only it were mainstream.

  • Gregalor I believe only the flavors that contain honey are raw. anyone know for sure?

  • Wow! for fucks sake! no wonder so many people don’t like vegans! because i can see that alot of them are uptight spoiled brats! pull your heads out of your asses and be glad that there are more options available for us vegans out there! if you don’t like honey, don’t boycott the place just because every item isnt 100% vegan.
    you know what, go ahead and boycott it, be childish, and the rest of us will enjoy our ice cream without your whining.
    we should be glad that more and more places are catering to vegans, not bitching cause you cant eat everything on the menu.
    Flash back to let’s say 2001, i could barely locate a vegan or vegetarian eatery, and now they’re popping up all over LA! 🙂

    *mary* (a proud vegan that hates peta & self righteous vegans, cause they make the rest of us look bad/insane!!)

  • Wow. Way to ruin something cool with your bickering. Don’t eat the products with honey if you’re vegan. At least this shop is telling you what has honey in it.

    They’re not hiding anything from you.

    I know that all of you holier-than-thou “vegans” think you’re proving a point. In reality, all you’re proving is that when people have a negative stigma against vegans, it’s mainly your fault.

    Glad I’m not a part of your crew.

  • This place looks gooooooood. Can’t wait to go completely Godzilla on a sundae.
    Oh, and I like turtles too.

  • I always thought “More Vegan Than You” would be an awesome name for a straightedge hardcore band.

    $10 says half the people whining here never would have gone in the first place, either because of the prices, or because the napkins are not fair trade or some other BS.

  • johnyonthespot May 11th, 2010 at 20:14

    hmmmmm this is a shame…..all of you stuck up vegans complaining about a little honey, dont you guys get this is a very sustainable icecream shop, would you guys rather a baskin robbins. Be grateful someone took the time and energy to build a place like this it is a beautiful thing.

  • coolerthentheotherside May 11th, 2010 at 20:18

    I am vegan and all of you vegans complaining about this makes me want to throw a cheeseburger in your face!!!!!!!!!!!!! with that being said this place is great i had it today the superfood was my favorite

  • @ studiodrome. That’s not true. All the flavors are raw except for the Peanut Butter (which has honey…)

  • Once again, I don’t think anyone is complaining because they use honey. They’re complaining because it’s marketed as VEGAN ice cream when it’s not. I get they use it for the people with raw diets, but don’t call it vegan. Easy as that.

    I went there today, talked to the owner, and had the vegan soft serve and it was faaaantastic.

  • @ studiodrome, oops I lied. The only raw flavors are strawberry, orange and vanilla. But NOT peanut butter, which contains honey. (So unfortunately, that is kind of pointless, since vegans can’t eat it, and neither can raw foodies!)

  • “Now lets forget our troubles with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream….”

    but seriously.

    Let’s go get some of this nom looking ice cream! Who is down?

  • About time someone did this…thanks for the heads up, I’m there!

  • Studiodrome:

    -In other words there is not really much to argue.

    well put points. agreed, for the most part :p

    (in responding to your initial post I wasn’t trying to single you out btw, you just had a nice concise summary of a lot of themes here that I tried to bring something to the table with)

  • I’m a vegetarian who’s transitioning over to being vegan. I just try to order flavors that don’t contain honey.
    Though of course I feel especially at home in all-vegan establishments, I try to support any vegan options I come across, wherever they are.

  • I’ve known and talked with many local, humane beekeepers, and from what I understand, most of these people have a true love and passion for these amazing little insects. I’ve been told that many human-bee relationships can be a kind of symbiosis–where the beekeepers raise and care for them via cruelty free and organic methods-while helping them to increase their numbers and providing protection, and that the bees seem to have enough honey to spare for some human consumption. One beekeeper explained how they can go to harvest honey and the bees make no attempt at stinging and do not show threatening or aggressive behavior. This leads me to believe that they do not perceive human beings who are harvesting honey and spending time with them as a threat. I have watered my own garden in the presence of many bees, and they usually are just happily pollinating while I walk amongst them. I have even visited a farmer who grows apples, avocados etc and also rescues and raises bees. They travel to people’s homes where bees have built hives somewhere inconvenient for said people, so they very carefully remove the hives and relocate them to farms, orchards or to the backyards of people who would like them to pollinate their own gardens.

    I do not believe that factory farming is okay–to say the least, it’s horrible and exploitative. But I do think that there are people with a genuine fondness and affection for bees and that they can live in peace together while providing for one another. What do they call that? Harmony? Haha.

    So in closing, I ask, what do you call a person, who eats and lives a vegan lifestyle, but occasionally consumes local honey? I think someone, somewhere in these comments mentioned “Beegan” and I LOVE that.

  • not an annoying vegan May 12th, 2010 at 13:28

    i think it’s GREAT this place exists! i think LA is lucky to have it! who fucking cares if they have honey in 2 or 3 ice creams? is it cos they have vegan in the title and you feel confused and mislead and you won’t support them? well, then you are retarded and you are the kind of vegan person that most people hate. the kind of vegan that makes me seem ridiculous the minute i tell someone “i don’t eat that..oh, cos i’m vegan”. we should support this place! yes, it’s a lil expensive, but so is real food daily, or madeleine bistro. you just can’t go there everyday. but we all love that those places are there for date nights or a nice night out..so, we NEED to support them before this blog and the lame comments on it will make this place lose business. be thankful someone opened an ice cream shop with more options than u can find anywhere else in LA.

    and if u STILL think they should change the name and boycott cos of that, u are a bad vegan. u lost the point of what being vegan is and why it’s awesome. i feel sorry for you. but at least you can wear your “vegan power” cape when you go out..

  • hey not an annoying vegan:

    you are a very annoying vegan. all this blog does is promote vegan restuarants, so why do you think it is gonna run nice cream out of business?

    also, i don’t think people here have issue with nice cream selling honey. they just shouldn’t sell honey if they call themselves vegan.

    you are very annoying.

  • I have the utmost respect for people who choose a lifestyle with the interest of our planet in mind. I have to ask, Is veganism a strict religion or a way of life with the goal of protecting our planet and the critters with whom we share it? I’ve seen people scoff at someone saying, “I am vegan and I eat honey;” scoff at people saying, I am mostly vegan.”
    I would think even Donald Watson (unless he was possessed of a huge ego) would be delighted with the people who are living this way. Why is the definition so important? Can people not consider themselves Jewish if they don’t follow the dietary laws? Can people not consider themselves Catholic if they practice birth control?
    And, since I am a honeybee, I’ll tell you when we are protecting our hive, it’s not against those who would take some of our honey; it’s against the critters who want to eat us for the valuable protein we provide. We appreciate beekeepers.

  • How about we argue about the price? Jesus fucking christ!

  • OMG!!!I had a little taste of it and its really good.
    and ofcourse it’s VEGAN.

  • Larry, they make the stuff from scratch. The labor, raw ingredients… do the math. If you want cheap processed prepackaged dairy, go somewhere else. Jesus Fucking Christ indeed.

  • All that anger over cruelty-free local honey, in only a couple flavors? Get a grip and be grateful NiceCream is here.

  • Should Nice Cream call themselves vegan since they sell honey products? No because it messes up the real definition of vegan. Vegans don’t eat anything from an animal, whether cared for nicely or not. It is not being picky that is the fact/definition.

    Though, I have no plans to boycott a place that has a mostly vegan selection of ice cream. Heck I wish I had time to drive to Studio City and get some ice cream right now, but I don’t.

    Though, I do hope they use different scoops for the vegan and the honey ones.

    I will be writing to the company to let them know that I love what they are doing but not that they are trying to pass themselves off as all vegan.
    If you don’t think they should call themselves vegan, let them know. It is much more effective when they hear it from you since they probably wont be reading the comments on blogs.

  • darla and skylar May 15th, 2010 at 13:38

    I can’t believe there are so many self-rightous jerks out there who find the need to argue over something so trivial. What ever happened to having the ability to make up ones own mind. Why should I care what you think. I will eat what I want, call myself what I want. If you choose not to partake then don’t, but do not make judgements for those that wish to eat NICECREAM. Thank you very much 🙂

  • you guys are nut jobs, go to a 3rd world country, go to Africa get a perspective in life the stop crying like babies over bee rights

  • Winslow Theramin May 18th, 2010 at 06:17

    I will not set foot in this place. They claim the name “vegan” and then totally smear it. We don’t need this kind of establishment.

  • Winslow Theramin May 18th, 2010 at 06:26

    One other thing: I find it totally unacceptable to eat vegan alternatives to otherwise non-vegan food. To me this is equivalent to watching porn alone and then claiming you’re not cheating on your partner: you’re going through the same motions (it’s not called Nice ***Cream*** for nothing after all) just not “technically” cheating. In this case it’s emotional cheating.

    Avoid this place and find good non-“animal porn” vegan foods.

  • Don’t be such a Debbie Downer, Winslow. You can do whatever you want, but don’t tell me that my preferred taste in vegan food is somehow wrong.

  • Also:

    BIG LOL @ “porn = cheating”

  • I went by NiceCream last week after reading that they were open. The women working there were very friendly and helpful and I tasted a couple flavors. At $10 a pint it’s not something that I can afford to eat very often but I wanted to give them a try so I bought one pint of basil-ginger and one of beet-grapefruit-ginger.

    The only other raw ice cream that I’ve had is the Tomberlies brand from a store and it’s really good, but expensive too, like all prepared raw food. The ice cream from NiceCream is mildly sweet so the flavor doesn’t hit you over the head but rather delicately envelops your mouth. The texture is not rich and creamy but still smooth and something like gelato. The basil-ginger has just a hint of basil flavor and a small ginger kick that lingers on your tongue. The beet-grapefruit-ginger is a pretty pink color with an even more complex flavor, slightly sour, slightly spicy, but I’m not really sure if I could taste the beet or not. I’m looking forward to trying some more of their flavors, soft serve, and ice cream sandwiches. (But no honey for me.)

    My only suggestion would be that they write up an explanation of what goes into their raw ice cream, i.e. the ingredients or how it’s made, so that people who aren’t familiar with raw ice cream can learn more about it (and why it costs so much!).

  • I stopped by there last night with by boyfriend. I got the soft serve which was positively DELICIOUS, and he got a mint chip flavor that was yummy as well. The staff was super friendly and I enjoyed the experience. My only complaint is the price… I will definitely go back there but it will have to be a once in a while treat because our two items (medium soft serve, two scoops for him) came out to nearly $12. I really hope this place does well (go try it people!), and I will continue to support it when my wallet allows, but if I have a craving for ice cream and am on a tight budget I will be heading to scoops simply because of their prices.

  • I went there today, visiting from out of town, and the soft serve machine was broken! I then wanted to leave but felt bad so I got the chocolate with caramel sauce. It was so small and really even good or satisfying and was $5.00. I was feeling ice cream deprived so I went to Scoops afterwards and got an amazing two scoop vegan ice cream bowl for 2.75!

  • I will not set foot in this place. They claim the name “vegan” and then totally smear it. We don’t need this kind of establishment.

  • Hard to imagine that a point might have been overlooked in the controversy-to-date, but I’d add this: Many vegans wouldn’t have found out about this place, other than the “vegan ice cream” billing. This is no small matter, particularly for a start-up small business with, presumably, a limited advertising budget. So you get there, and you find out that some flavors (clearly identified) use honey; ok, don’t order them. Or if the whole idea offends you, don’t order anything. But IMO, the salient point isn’t that “Hey, they say vegan, but they use honey!” It’s “Hey, I (and others) might not otherwise have known about an ice cream place that is predominantly vegan!” I’d have a different take on it if they used honey and didn’t prominently let people know about it; but if all I have to do is avoid certain identified flavors, no harm no foul.

    As for avoiding it being “unacceptable” to eat vegan alternatives to otherwise non-vegan food…ummm LOL.
    The analogy I’d use is that’s like thinking it’s unacceptable to represent murder in a play or movie, because the real thing is unacceptable. No dead body, no problem. No animal cruelty, no problem. If you want to live on asparagus (or insert your least favorite vegetable here), more power to ya, but if no cows (or other sentient life forms) were harmed during the making of this veggie burger, then it’s all good.
    Omnivores are omnivores for 3 basic reasons:
    1) They don’t agree that it’s a moral question.
    2) They believe that their dietary choices taste better.
    3) They’ve always done it that way.

    In my experience, there’s not much chance reaching anyone who’s solidly in category 1. Categories 2 and 3 can be reasoned with, though, because if you recognize it as a moral issue, 2 and 3 (particularly 3). If you care at all about increasing the percentage of vegans in the world, the triage approach (reaching those who can be reached) centers on 2 – they like what they’re eating, and they’re resistant to sacrifice taste or their favorite meals. What’s standing in between (some of) them and veganism is a couple of trips to Cruzer Pizza, Hugo’s Tacos, Native Foods, or Nice Cream/Kind Kreme. “Well, you shouldn’t eat a vegan analog to a non-vegan food” is not only apparently (to me) groundless (why on earth not?), but, worse, it’s counter-productive. For the love of God, if the only thing stopping someone you know from being a vegan is that he loves his chorizo, don’t tell him how good kale is, TAKE HIM TO HUGO’S FUCKING TACOS.

    That is all.
    -DFO “Nice Cream’s Favorite Lawyer”

  • Sorry, trailed off in the middle of a thought in the last paragraph – if you recognize it as a moral issue, 2 and 3 (particularly 3) are not really strong justifications for causing suffering.

  • Stopped in this weekend because I was in the area. Great selection and I was offered as many tastes as I was un-embarrassed to ask for. All tasty but for my budget..yikes! $3.99 per small scoop? Because how ould you have just one flavor. Ouch and yummy at the same time. Thankfully I won’t become addicted to it because it is a bit of a trek for me. But if I happen to be in the area….

  • Ok. This place is THE BEST! It is nestled right between Poquito Mas (not vegan but able to be Vegan-ified) and Sunpower. What a trifecta!

    When I walked in my first question was, “Just how vegan/raw/organic is everything?”

    Molly (the super nice owner) gave me the complete rundown of everything, telling me that some flavors have honey, that the coconut milk came from non-organic coconuts, but that @ least they were not sprayed with chemicals like many of the ones we get shipped in to the states, and exactly what was raw.

    After encouraging me to try nearly every flavor (I am vegan but I eat honey and the Blueberry honey was delicious!) I got my scoops and devoured them on the drive home. So much for saving some for later.

    I can’t wait to stop in whenever I am on that side of the hill.

  • A friend of mine sent me this link because of the amazing comments section. Isn’t it nice to be able to decide what diet you can have? Due to scarcity and economic constraints the majority of the worlds population doesn’t have the luxury of a designer diet. Many of you continue to give vegans, and by association vegetarians, a bad name. You sound like whining trust fund babies who have found a sheik new ‘ethical’ way of being an elitist.

    I support NiceCream because they make vegan ice cream that tastes amazing. It’s expensive because it is gourmet, locally sourced, raw, almost entirely vegan, and GOOD. I guarantee you they are not making much profit.

    Now good vegans, let’s all go out and treat our fellow humans as well as we would animals. I’m sure it isn’t difficult to volunteer at you local food bank or public elementary school.

  • My version of “vegan” came about because I’m against GMO, factory farming and generally cruel and ridiculous practices which in turn are totally against my idea of LIFE, so this is how I (re)act. An awesome book I recommend reading for environmental and moral ways of living is “The One-Straw Revolution” by Masanobu Fukuoka, a natural farmer for the majority of his life.
    So in light of two interesting articles posted here, in this string of comments, my views have changed and broadened, as things tend to do at all times, and quite frankly, I am intrigued to try this establishment’s honey ice creams. I do not partake of commercially, cruelly and uncaringly produced honey, and even when I wasn’t vegan I didn’t eat it, because I thought it tasted yucky plain. But, that was a different time, and I’ve never had it mixed in anything.
    In any case, we’re here for the Kind Kream! My sister and I went on a beautiful day to this wonderful ice cream store, where my omniverous, food-loving sister said Kind Kream’s soft serve is the best soft serve she’s ever had, ever.
    And I enjoy making my own raw vegan ice cream at home, but it’s really a treat to be able to go out with my sister, who I don’t get to spend a lot of time with anymore, to a generally pleasant, kind-natured, delicious place that even I (in our mostly non-“vegan” family) can feel good about. Plus…an ICE CREAM PARLOR of all things!

  • I will definitely only treat myself to this place twice a year. $12 Sundae is a birthday treat only. The other hot summer days my money will go to scoops which is only $3.

  • Hey Kid!
    I did a random Google search for Vegan ice cream in LA, this post cam up 2nd in the search… small world, keep writing and how the hell are ya?
    thanks for the tip!

  • all of my kids love to dwelll on ice cream shops, they really love to munch lots of ice cream ,’,


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