During a frigid week in Saskatchewan, many people have embraced the cold, others stayed home and some chose ice cream to help them cope during the grand opening of Dandy’s Artisan Ice Cream in the city’s south.
“I’ve got banana ice cream here, so it makes me feel like I’m on vacation,” one customer told CTV News.
“I went grocery shopping in the cold, it’s fine,” said another.
The tasty new offerings of cold treats turned out to be enough to convince dozens of people to visit the shop on its first official day of business, despite temperatures hovering around minus 25.
Daniela and Rob Mintenko, the co-owners of Dandy’s, say it wasn’t their plan to open an ice cream shop smack in the middle of winter, but construction and permit delays pushed back the opening day.
“This is when we’re opening, and it just so happens to be the coldest week of the year,” Rob said.
Now, people can enjoy gourmet flavours like rosemary caramel popcorn, cereal milk and coconut ash honeycomb all year round.
Plus, they can watch the production.
“We make everything in house,” Daniela said. “We have an open kitchen so you can see how the process is going.”
The couple says there was a void in Regina’s ice cream market for a higher quality artisan shop.
After completing an Ice Cream 101 course at Penn State University - the same starting point as Ben and Jerry – Daniela decided Regina was a great fit.
With blueberries from Lumsden and espresso from the Queen City, Dandy’s sources as many ingredients as possible from other local businesses.
“Just because you kind of promote the local economy obviously, people support local businesses these days,” Daniela said.
“There’s so much that Saskatchewan has to offer and the more you look into it, there is so much here,” said Rob.
As for the taste, customers say it’s worth risking a brain freeze during the cold snap.
Based on a report by CTV Regina's Stefanie Davis
