When I was 11 years old, I stepped on a plane for the first time. My family was flying to Oregon to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins for a week-long trip. I still remember that week as a blur of fun new experiences; my younger brothers and I hiked behind waterfalls, swam in the Pacific Ocean, and hiked up Mount Hood. However, despite the abundance of natural beauty and quality time with my family, one of the most memorable events from my Oregon trip was trying ice cream from a popular shop called Salt & Straw.
Salt & Straw in Oregon City, Oregon, is located on First Street and A Avenue, a block from the Millennium Plaza Park overlooking Lakewood Bay. The ice cream shop was the predetermined destination of my family’s evening walk one night, and the warm June sun was setting beautifully as we walked up the cobblestone road to the door. The store’s white-and-red striped awnings shade tall, wall-to-wall windows that provide ample natural lighting even in the fading light of the evening. The subtly warm lights hanging from the high ceiling illuminate the glass covering and ice cream counter. The interior feels spacious even when crowded with hungry customers on hot summer days.
Kim Malek and Tyler Malek are cousins who founded a food cart in Portland that became Salt & Straw in 2011. The first permanent location is in Portland, and in the years since 2011 three more branches have opened in the Portland area and several more around the country. The ice cream is made locally and shipped nationwide in dry ice, which allows shops around the country—from Florida to California to New York—to serve fresh scoops every single day. The company’s mission, reflected in every aspect of management and production, is to create charitable connections, work sustainably, and spread creativity.
On September 20th, 2024, Salt & Straw opened their first New York City location, on 78th and Amsterdam on the Upper West Side. The store’s glass doors are wide open from morning to evening, inviting everyone from local New Yorkers to tourists to come in for a sweet treat. The building’s exterior consists of gray brick interspersed with red benches and bright red lettering which makes for an attractively modern face. The benches are never empty, however, and instead are crowded with passersby eating from cones or spoons or straws, their cheery faces a free advertisement for the business inside.
Salt & Straw has a rotating menu: every month, a new array of five flavors is available in every location across the country in addition to their ten signature ones. These new flavors vary from seasonal—stuffing and cranberry sauce in November or eggnog in December—to purely experimental flavors that the staff at Salt & Straw were excited to share with customers. The routine is indicative of the kind of company Salt & Straw is: they are constantly innovating new flavors combinations, textures, and ingredients to make the world more fun and adventurous. As the company’s mission statement says, “Using ice cream as the platform, we pioneer and share experiences that inspire and connect us all.”
The monthly flavors—when they aren’t holiday- or seasonal- themed—are often collaborations with local businesses or imaginative applications of food science theories. Some notable examples of the former include Chai Spiced Eggnog (a collab with Diaspora Coffee & Chai, the small business owned by an Indian immigrant) and Wasabi Raspberry Sorbet (thanks to a woman-run wasabi farm Oregon Coast Wasabi.) In total, Salt & Straw partners with 30 to 50 local businesses every year, staying true to their value of interpersonal connection.
Tyler Malek is a food scientist with a seemingly limitless imagination, and some of the flavors that have been unveiled over the years as part of Salt & Straw’s monthly collections highlight those converging aspects of his character. The list of these out-of-the-box flavors include (but are not limited to) bone marrow fudge, cheesy potato casserole, smoked mac and cheese, and charred corn curd. I have had the pleasure of trying bone marrow fudge, and can say confidently that, although at first glance the concept seems impossibly whimsical, the food scientists who developed this flavor were onto something. The company uses its flavors to challenge the idea of what a dessert can be.
This fall when the Upper West Side location opened, there were two weeks left in the month of September, and the company took advantage of them. The first monthly flavors were an exclusive “New York City series,” and were only sold at the new location. Three of the five flavors were reminiscent of the traditional Jewish food that is native to the Upper West Side and nostalgic for so many New Yorkers: Cinnamon Raisin Bagels & Schmear, Chocolate Babka with Hazelnut Fudge, and Pastrami on Rye (seriously.) The Babka and Bagels flavors were each born from a collaboration with local pastry shops—Breads Bakery and Pop-Up Bagels, respectively—and consisted of locally-made ice cream add-ins.
Salt & Straw also supports charities and nonprofit organizations that stand for change. The Trevor Project, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, and the National Park Foundation are examples of the company’s affiliations. Through donations and advertisement, the ice cream shop champions issues from park preservation to child cancer. Moreover, the menu has always featured vegan flavors using non-dairy milks to maintain the company’s inclusive mission and climate-friendly philosophy.
Another pillar of Salt & Straw’s vision is access to education. Many of the local campaigns that the company has funded have been advocates of children’s right to education, as the issue is important for the founders. Project LEDO is a non-profit that works with underfunded schools, and partnered with Salt & Straw to teach through fun, ice cream-based lessons. The local connectivity of the ice cream chain provides a basis for dialogue about STEM and local political discussions. In 2015, Salt & Straw began a program in Portland elementary schools which culminated in students submitting their ideas for new ice cream flavors. One of the flavors that was created (and made it onto the menu!) was Stop Guac & Roll (avocado-vanilla ice cream with cinnamon-sugar-dusted fried tortillas). These missions highlight not only the commitment but the creativity of Salt & Straw’s staff.
In June of 2023, Salt & Straw launched one of its most provocative menus. It was called the “The Upcycled Foods Series,” and consisted of ice cream made of 38,000 pounds of recycled food. According to Salt & Straw’s website, “Upcycled foods use ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption. […] It’s the perfectly delicious bread or donuts that were baked this morning, but the grocery store can’t market as tomorrow’s ‘fresh’ batch.” This approach, although groundbreaking and hard for customers to swallow (figuratively!), illustrates the company’s distinction from its competitors. The sustainability practices that many businesses follow behind the scenes are amplified in Salt & Straw’s outwardly vocal climate activism.
The Upper West Side Salt & Straw, having been open for 7 months, has received local customers, celebrity visits, and media attention. The seasons are changing, and with spring comes the prime time for a cool sweet treat. The current flavor collection, titled “The May Flowers Series,” includes floral combinations such as jasmine milk tea almond stracciatella, pistachio saffron & rose water, rhubarb crumble & toasted anise, and lemon marigold amaro sherbet. I implore New Yorkers, visitors, and everyone in between to come try the Portland specialty which is slowly, steadily, becoming a New York City delight.
The Upper West Side Salt & Straw, having been open for 7 months, has received local customers, celebrity visits, and media attention. The seasons are changing, and with spring comes the prime time for a cool sweet treat. The current flavor collection, titled “The May Flowers Series,” includes floral combinations such as jasmine milk tea almond stracciatella, pistachio saffron & rose water, rhubarb crumble & toasted anise, and lemon marigold amaro sherbet. I implore New Yorkers, visitors, and everyone in between to come try the Portland specialty which is slowly, steadily, becoming a New York City delight.