{"id":2114,"date":"2016-01-13T20:43:12","date_gmt":"2016-01-13T20:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/food\/long-beach-creamery\/"},"modified":"2016-01-13T20:43:12","modified_gmt":"2016-01-13T20:43:12","slug":"long-beach-creamery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/food\/long-beach-creamery","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Creamery Finds its Groove as Experimental Ice Cream Staple in Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photos by Asia Morris.<\/em><\/p>\n

I thought the wise words of the Long Beach woman I interviewed months ago had burned too deep a hole in my pocket of pending pieces for the Post<\/em>, but when Long Beach Creamery won our online publication\u2019s 2015 Best Ice Cream in Long Beach category, I decided, what better time to put her story out than now?<\/p>\n

Our readers have spoken, and what they\u2019ve clearly voiced, by a whopping 31.8 percent margin, is that Long Beach Creamery is an inspiration to aspiring experimenters, and a hometown treasure to be cherished.<\/p>\n

While Long Beach Creamery owner and founder Dina Amadril\u2019s humble beginnings<\/a> were well documented by the Post<\/em> in 2014, we caught up with the busy small business owner again several months after she successfully opened her Bixby Knolls brick and mortar in May of last year to discover how work was going, and found out so much more. While the start of Amadril\u2019s cream-churning career began in 2013, the makings of her entrepreneurship began in a blue-collar bar in Wakefield, Rhode Island. As a recent college graduate, bartender Amadril saw an opportunity and seized it.<\/p>\n

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\u201c[The owner] would have little hot dogs behind the counter and in order for her to have her liquor license she had to have food, and the hot dogs weren\u2019t really cuttin\u2019 it,\u201d Amadril said. \u201cSo I said to her, \u2018Hey, I want to start somethin\u2019.\u2019 She had a kitchen. No one ever used it. It was all greasy. I asked, \u2018Can I clean your kitchen? We can make a deal. I\u2019ll sell stuff and then pay you a percentage.\u2019 She\u2019s like, \u2018Sure, why not?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus began Amadril\u2019s \u201clittle Mexican food thing,\u201d a short-lived operation that she enjoyed, yet, in the long run, she struggled to squeeze a profit from. When it came down to the numbers, the 25 cents per hour in profits she was making made her realize it was time to move on. That was when she decided \u201cit was a bad environment. I had about $150 bucks and a truck. I said, \u2018Let\u2019s get outta here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But when Amadril moved to Long Beach, the first job she landed lasted 25 years. Her go-get-it attitude was forced into dormancy with the offerings of a nine-to-five, yet her ideas never stopped flowing.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI talked about a million different ideas until I was tired of hearing myself just say stuff,\u201d she said. \u201cI would draft out a big idea, or what I thought was a big idea, then I wouldn\u2019t do anything. I think maybe it was in the overwhelming category or I was settled enough and making a good paycheck. I made good money, I got this promotion, that promotion and\u2026 I mean once you get a paycheck, things kind of change a little bit.”<\/p>\n

Amadril elaborated, stating that with security sometimes comes a stifling environment.<\/p>\n

“So I would think of ideas, but I would never take the risk,” she said. “And I think that\u2019s because of the security level, the being overwhelmed, the remembrance of you did that and it kind of sucked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nowadays, Amadril is focused on keeping up, riding the massive wave she started solely with a KitchenAid attachment and a passion for experimenting, and satisfying a local ice cream fanaticism she never could have predicted. After initially opening the shop, she soon found out she\u2019d need another ice cream spinner, because the one she already had just wasn\u2019t meeting the community\u2019s immediate demand for more. Since that time, she\u2019s dealt with production issues, training an entire staff and juggling logistics she didn\u2019t think she\u2019d encounter at this point. What was supposed to be an upgraded, efficient, state law-abiding location for production outside of her home has quickly become one of Bixby Knolls\u2019 most popular storefronts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think the scooping business here was going to be such a big thing,\u201d she said. \u201cI figured I\u2019d sell at MADE [in Long Beach] or through Kress Markets or online or we\u2019d deliver it; we\u2019d have to get it out to people from here, but now people are coming here to eat it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Not only is she keeping up with demand, but she\u2019s experimenting with flavors all the time. At least two new flavors come out of the woodwork every week. It\u2019s a matter of creativity, yes, but it\u2019s also a way to ensure that not one food product goes to waste. Long Beach Creamery is as much a boon to the city\u2019s growing scene of food establishments sourcing local products as it is a great place to get a scoop of Lemon Blue Black for an afternoon treat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have a little bit left over from this chocolate that we made, a little bit left over from the pecan thing, let\u2019s see how we can we put those things together,\u201d said Amadril. \u201cAnd those have created some of the best ice creams, the ones that people like the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when the going gets tough, like when a piece of equipment isn\u2019t working the way it should or some hoodlum finds a way to break in and take the cash box<\/a>, Amadril finds a way to look at it with a healthy sense of humor and the motivation to simply keep taking steps forward, even if they\u2019re measured in tiptoes and not feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing real sad about ice cream,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s another thing, if I\u2019m feeling overwhelmed, it\u2019s just damn ice cream, I\u2019m not doing brain surgery, it\u2019s just something to make people happy. But you gotta ride the dragon. Where\u2019s it goin\u2019, where\u2019s it goin\u2019? You have to be constantly thinking on your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now with a second ice cream spinner, locally-sourced fresh ingredients dropped off at the shop regularly and brand new products like ice cream cakes, ice cream bread and ice cream sandwiches being made (and new flavors concocted every week), Long Beach Creamery is well on its way to finding its groove.<\/p>\n

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Amadril is also paying it forward, by turning the shop into a micro coffee house Sunday through Wednesday from 7:00AM to 1:00PM in an effort to help another local budding business, Black Ring Coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pop-up concept that helps this Long Beach-based business get started,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe are paying forward the favor that Farmlot 59 did for us when we started.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing that\u2019s certainly unique about Long Beach Creamery is the community\u2019s stake in its success, a fact Amadril couldn\u2019t describe without her eyes watering. And while it\u2019s not uncommon these days for a business to foster more transparency online, to garner the kind of interaction and community ownership that creamery has is something of warranted note.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people get involved so much, you don\u2019t see that too often,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful. Because they\u2019ll defend things that I don\u2019t even think need defending. They\u2019ll just jump up and start talking in favor of Long Beach Creamery before I can even answer anything online. And it\u2019s so heart-wrenching, I\u2019m full of gratitude every time that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

So cheers to experimental flavors, like Wednesday\u2019s Cashew Fennel Chip ice cream bread with a salt and pepper glaze paired with a steaming cup of Black Ring Coffee. And don\u2019t be afraid to get really attached (if you haven\u2019t already), because Long Beach, you helped make this happen.<\/p>\n

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For more information about Long Beach Creamery, click here<\/a> and for day-to-day updates visit the Facebook page here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Long Beach Creamery is located at 4141 Long Beach Boulevard.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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I thought the wise words of the Long Beach woman I interviewed months ago had burned too deep a hole in my pocket of pending pieces for the\u00a0Post<\/em>, but when Long Beach Creamery won our online publication\u2019s 2015 Best Ice Cream in Long Beach category, I decided, what better time to put her story out than now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":67481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[480],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-2114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","tag-long-beach-creamery","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2114"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=2114"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}