Frozen Custard Is Here, and It Is Good

Not everyone who makes frozen custard does it well. Since we left, Wisconsin's become dotted with Culver's, each of those locations a fortress of adequacy. Closer to home, Sheridan's in Vancouver left us wondering if any real frozen custard could compare to our memories of heavenly offerings from Kopp's.

We revisited Kopp's in August, and ordered a humble cone of chocolate custard to see if we were just kidding ourselves, if even actual present-day Kopp's custard could hold a candle to our nostalgic impressions of it.

It could. It was transcendent. Kopp's is Chuck Barry and Ray Charles rolled into one, while Culver's and Sheridan's are Pat Boone.

So we were both delighted and wary when we heard about the coming of Peaks. But we needn't have worried. Peaks is Elvis. Their custard has soul.

The chocolate in particular was extraordinary: perfect texture and rich, dark, chocolate undertones that make you want to kick off a tasting notebook.

It stands proudly alongside what Kopp's serves every day. (Though we're planning a side-by-side taste test in the near future. Stay tuned.)

There were a couple of hitches: When we went, Peaks was cash-only, so we were thankful we had enough to buy ice cream to stay as well as a pint to go. And their small size is two scoops, although the menu says one scoop, which lead to an Abbott-and-Costello-esque conversation on our part trying to figure out how we could get two flavors in one scoop.

And there's something odd about eating frozen custard in a place inspired by coffeeshops rather than drive-ins, with free wifi and wooden tables and espresso rather than industrial-size custard machines and stainless steel tables and hamburgers.

In our head, frozen custard would be offered Kidd Valley or Red Mill rather than a sweet little storefront in Ravenna--but no, that's asking for Milwaukee to be transplanted here, rather than accepting a Seattle variant of established tradition. Lord knows we don't want to be one of those annoying regionalists who insists that there's no good pizza or Mexican or BBQ in town.

(Though they may have a point about the Mexican ...)