Reader, if you’re up on the ins + outs of the New York vegan scene and/or follow us on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or your preferred social media outlet du jour, you may already know that NYC-based artisan ice cream purveyors + ever-misspelled pusher of caffeine, Van Leeuwen, now offers small batch vegan ice cream.
What you may not know, however, is that it’s fucking awesome. Like, really fucking awesome. Really really fucking awesome.
The two mainstay flavors—which you can find at three brick-and-mortars (see above) + on their truck—are the bio-dynamic, single-estate Michel Cluizel French chocolate + the oak-barrel-aged bourbon + Tahitian vanilla. And yes—they are just as fancily amazing as they sound. Honestly, the vanilla is the best vegan vanilla this writer has ever had. And, mind you, I have had a LOT of vegan ice cream.
Co-Founder Laura O’Neill informs us they’re hard at work on new flavors too. One of which, according to a recent poster on Instagram, is vegan black sesame. Right—WHAAAAAAAT‽ Also, according to VL’s Facebook page a couple weeks back—”Whats next on the vegan menu??? Mint chip, made with organic housemade cashew nut milk.” Again, WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT‽
Accuse us of hyperbolation if you like, Reader, but we encourage you to try for yourself + see what you think. Fight this heat wave with vegan ice cream!
