Twenty years ago, Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen rented a Good Humor truck as a summer job in Greenwich, CT. The brothers behind the artisanal French-style ice cream (and vegan ice cream!) that bears their name still have vivid memories of growing up in Connecticut. “I remember at the end of summer days, driving down the Post Road watching the sun set and going over the Mianus River Bridge, eating an ice cream sandwich cookie that we sold on the truck,” recalls Ben. The two founded the company, Van Leeuwen in NYC with Laura O’Neill back in 2008 with an iconic yellow ice cream truck.
Now, they’ve come back to their roots with their first Connecticut shop, which opened in Greenwich last fall. (They have more than 30 shops nationwide.) There, you can get more than 30 flavors, including the Canelé (starting at $6.50), an exclusive collaboration with local French bakery Raphaël’s. It’s brown sugar ice cream infused with rum and vanilla, and bits of canelé. “It’s like a chewy, delicious baked custard,” says Ben.
