Driving around enjoying the fine company of one of my sons while we waited for my other wonderful son to finish baseball practice, I remembered an intriguing little French cafe I had been wanting to try, that just happened to be in the very neighborhood we were in. We concurred it was the perfect time to check it out.

As we entered this charming bistro, we were greeted by the very friendly owner, Patricia, who proceeded to show us around her delightful “labor of love.” She has created quite a welcoming feel in this very comfortable and pretty cafe - tables beautifully dressed in the French Provencal style, cozy couch and chair arrangements provided so you can enjoy your desserts while visiting with friends. Shelves of unique and fun items for sale, and an enchanting Moroccan themed room where you can hold your next special family, friend or business event.

She explained that during the week their primary business was filling orders for their many wholesale accounts with their Delicieuse French Ice Cream and Sorbets, but that the cafe is open on weekends for lunch, dinner or a quick ‘best you ever had’ (our words, not hers) ice cream/sorbet/dessert stop. Since it was after 3pm on a Friday, only dessert was available, but since that is all we had time for anyway, that worked out great. We were encouraged to sample as many different flavors of ice cream as we liked, and ohhh, they were all so profoundly delicious (the companies title is in no way a misnomer!) Many of them were made from goats milk, and Patricia explained that if you are lactose intolerant, goats milk should be easier for your system to handle since its chemical makeup is the closest to humans.

Adam decided the Mango Sorbet was his favorite for the moment - it was just the pure taste of the fruit in its frozen form, not ultra sweet with an excess of added sugar - great texture. I ended up choosing the Coconut Goat’s Milk Ice Cream, which I was told was made from Virgin Coconut Oil, and it tasted so fresh as if they had just cracked the coconut right there while I was waiting. We also had the opportunity to try the Lavender Ice Cream and the Lemon Basil Sorbet both with incredible richness and flavor - we really could have been quite happy just staying there all afternoon and trying them all - that is how enticing they all looked and sounded.

This company’s mission statement is simple, if I may paraphrase - they offer a superior product using the freshest of organic and natural ingredients, creating an extraordinary variety of artisanale ice creams and sorbets that have been expertly blended to produce exceptionally exquisite taste!

We felt happy all over after that visit and look forward to it again. Maybe next time for lunch or dinner some weekend - they have a lovely menu offering quiche, salads with homemade dressings, hearty soups and comforting traditional French stews, sandwiches and crepes, with a beautiful ending of ice cream or sorbet of your choice, or you can choose from several traditional French desserts such as Creme Brulee or Tarte Tatin. Apparently they even offer wine pairing evenings which sound quite interesting and fun to me.

For terrific photos and explanations of all they have to offer, including an alluring list of ice cream and sorbet flavors, visit www.icedreamonline.com - or better yet, if your local - take a ride and experience these incredible tastes for yourself.

2503 Artesia Boulevard (cross street - Phelan Avenue)
Redondo Beach, CA 90278
(310) 793-79079

They’re opened:
Fridays - 12 noon to 3pm (lunch), 3pm to 6pm (Dessert Only)
Saturdays - 12 noon to 9pm (Lunch and Dinner)
Sundays - 12 noon to 4pm (Lunch Only)

Mondays through Thursday they are not open to the public as this is when they do their ice cream manufacturing.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.