Expect colorful ice cream creations, such as this marshmallow fluff topping set ablaze, when Charm School opens this weekend. (Photo by Chris Bavaria, courtesy of Charm School)
12/4 Update: Charm School is now open, with limited hours. Stop by tonight now through 8 p.m. For a list of tonight's flavors, click here.
The Art's District's newest venture is high on charm. With fanciful flavors, pastries, vegan sweets and a soundtrack on vinyl, Charm School — the new gourmet ice cream shop and bakery at 311 W. Broad St. — is set to open this weekend in the former Quirk Gallery space.
“We want it to be a destination and a meeting place, and that doesn’t really happen in ice cream shops," says baker and co-owner Meryl Hillerson. "You get it in bakeries sometimes; you get it in restaurants, definitely. But ice cream often feels dumbed-down, and we didn’t want to do that; we wanted to create a space we would want to go if we didn’t own it.”
That space is well known to Richmonders: a building that once housed work from a number of the city's rising stars in the art scene. The space has sat vacant, but full of promise, since the summer of 2015. Soon, its nearly 3,000 square feet will be full of treats like toast-flavored ice cream thick with swirls of jam, layer cakes, and hot caramel sauce, the scent of house-made waffle cones in the air. It's a gathering place where Hillerson and co-owner Alex Zavaleta want everyone to feel welcome, from children to those just getting out of a late-night show. Accented by library-shelf wallpaper, schoolhouse-inspired seating, custom-made green ceramic bowls and modern design elements, Charm School Social Club — the name of the storefront itself — will offer a bright setting for its 16 colorful flavors of ice cream.
"It’s probably really hard for our friends to eat out with Alex and I because when we taste something really good, we automatically say, ‘Would this be good in ice cream?’ " Hillerson says, laughing. "Then we just kind of go from there.”
The whimsy and imaginative flavors extend beyond the ice cream itself; one signature item you'll find is a house-made marshmallow-fluff topping, hand-torched to order. They'll keep the other toppings relatively simple: roasted and salted Virginia peanuts, Luxardo Maraschino cherries, slivered almonds, house-made cookie crumbs, sprinkles. There will also be fresh cookies available for à la carte enjoyment, or as part of an ice cream sandwich. And, because the pair is creating a space for all palates, roughly one-quarter of the menu will always be vegan, whether it's cashew-and-coconut-based ice cream, or pastries and pies stocking the shop's antique display case. "Our vegan pastries are something we’ve thought quite a bit about and something we want to be good," Zavaleta says. "I think too often vegan pastries can be afterthoughts, but our friends would be angry with us if we gave them a subpar vegan ice cream or vegan pastry.”
With the exception of sprinkles and peanuts, Charm School will make everything in house, from toppings to custom-ordered cakes. “We’re kind of baffled by the people who go to all of the effort to hand-make their ice cream, and then they open a box and pull out a premade cone," Hillerson says. "If we’re going through all the effort to highlight a product, we want to highlight every product.” These products are locally sourced when possible, calling on seasonal produce, Pennsylvania's Trickling Springs Creamery for dairy and Lamplighter Roasting Co. beans for batch-brewed and pour-over coffee.
Expect ice cream, slices of cake, pastries and cookies all priced roughly between $3 and $7, and eventually, hand-packed pints to-go. The shop will open with limited hours, most likely from noon to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, then expand to Tuesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
“I would never fit in at a charm school myself, but now I get to be the principal of my own,” Zavaleta jokes. The designer and artist grew up in the punk scene along I-95, trekking from Northern Virginia to Richmond for shows, until moving here. That community is what encouraged Zavaleta's ice cream passion, and what's helped shape Charm School today: After a 2007 move to San Francisco, he began making his own unconventional ice cream and bringing his hobby by the tray to sell at Bay Area punk shows. It was in San Francisco where he met Hillerson, a Northern California native with a pastry background and an education from Tante Marie's Cooking School. Together, they whipped up technically challenging and popular ice creams they wanted to develop into a business. After a few visits back home, Zavaleta realized there was no better place than Richmond.
“You always read it, ‘Richmond: Next Big Food Destination,’ but it’s like, no, it’s the food destination now," he says. "And if it isn’t right now, it’s going to be very shortly.”
Charm School is just one of a handful of new spots sweetening up the neighborhood, joining Chocolates by Kelly and Stoplight Gelato Café.
“Richmond has just grown food-wise in so many amazing ways. I would come back to visit and go to The Roosevelt or Sub Rosa or Proper Pie, and these weren’t here when I was here, and I would really like to contribute to that," Zavaleta says, adding, “There’s really no other place that I could foresee opening up a shop than in Richmond, Virginia.”
Charm School is slated to open sometime this weekend at 311 W. Broad St. Stay tuned to the shop's Facebook page or Instagram account for opening announcements.
Clarification: This post originally stated Charm School is opening in Jackson Ward; the new business is in the Arts District on the border between Monroe Ward and Jackson Ward. This post has been updated to reflect this.
