Taking the Ice Cream Sandwich up a Notch in NoHo

3/14/18 - By Li Starr

When is an ice cream sandwich more than an ice cream sandwich? Maybe when the Care Bears get involved.

We went to check out NoHo's uber-cool gourmet ice cream sandwich spot, Cream, last week, on a quest to find out just how exceptional an ice cream sandwich can be. Not only did we get a deliciously satisfying answer to that question, we also managed to hit the store the night the Care Bears were there launching their month-long special flavors. We even got to sink our teeth into a new version of the decadent cronut. If you've got a hankering for ice cream (and who doesn't?) coupled with kids who love Care Bears (ditto), you'll want to stop into one of the LA area's three Cream locations before the end of March.

Ice cream sandwich construction begins with choosing your baked good, choosing your ice cream flavor, and choosing a topping—all for one flat price (currently $5). There are also mini versions, and straight-up ice cream, but most people go for what Cream proudly calls "the whole shabang." All of the cookies are baked fresh, so the ice cream melts onto the warm cookies. Mmm.

The retro appeal of Care Bears (they began appearing on American Greeting cards way back in 1982) was enough to lure Teddi Mellencamp, a new Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star and the daughter of John Mellencamp, to the NoHo Cream location for the launch of the specialty sandwiches the night we were there. 


Gus Shamieh, the founder and president of CREAM, serves Teddi Mellencamp and her son.

With or without celeb appearances, the Lucky Care Bear super-premium ice cream sandwich is a March treat, with double chocolate chip cookies covered in shamrock confetti and mint chocolate chip ice cream stuffed between them (with the topping of your choice). The Care Bear Berry sandwich is two sugar cookies covered in shamrock confetti with strawberry ice cream. 

If the "do'sant" (called that because cronuts are trademarked) with a scoop of Cup of Joe is calling your more grown-up tastes, no judgment. Of course, your kids might beg you to reconsider, since each Care Bear sandwich comes with a trading card—eight in all. Prepare to make multiple trips to Cream this month. But don't feel too guilty; Cream has vegan and gluten-free options, too.

Gus Shamieh, the founder and president of Cream, was on hand at the launch event to get visitors excited about the Care Bear connection, and generally about Cream, which is growing fast with locations in four states (beyond NoHo, LA locations are in Northridge and USC, plus Ontario). At the event, kids were greeted by several people dressed up in green fuzzy Care Bear costumes, all decked out for St. Patrick's Day.

But costumed characters were just icing on the cookie for us; this place is really about the dessert—even if those luscious ice cream sandwiches (which really are best eaten with a spoon, if you want to keep your little one from wearing most of them) were too much to gobble up in one sitting for these small stomachs. But that's okay; caring is sharing with your mom, right? 


Photo by the author

Photos by Viven Best unless otherwise noted

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