Get ready to sample the latest offerings in tasty food science at a new Long Island City ice cream shop.
International ice cream company Four Winters opened its first east coast location at 47-38 Vernon Blvd. Founded in London in 2013, Four Winters has become known for its hand-churned, liquid nitrogen-mixed flavors and sustainable, locally sourced ingredients.
The new shop replaces The Standing Room comedy club and Sage coffee, which both closed in June 2018.
Beginning with a liquid base, each flavor is flash-frozen using liquid nitrogen at -196 degrees. The process creates fresh, creamy ice cream with bold flavors.
Entrepreneurs Omar Alkhawaja and Zeid Zabian, along with Zaynab Abdullah founded the company six years ago. Abdullah, who is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education is the head of product development and U.S. operations for the company.
The Four Winters team gains inspiration for new flavors on seasonal produce, working closely with local farmers, traveling to new cities and pulling elements from their Middle Eastern roots. Since its inception, the company established locations in Jordan, Egypt and, most recently, Los Angeles in 2018.
One of Four Winters’ signature flavors includes Knafeh, named for the classic Middle Eastern dessert. A sweet cream base is combined with kataifi dough and simple syrup topped with pistachios. Cereal Crunch combines a vanilla base with sweetened cereal clusters and salted caramel, while Fudge Brownie is made with a chocolate base, fudgy brownies and caramel sauce. The following is a list of the company’s other signature and seasonal flavors. Seasonal flavors are marked with an asterisk (*):
- C3 Dough: brown sugar base mixed with chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate sauce
- Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter: vegan chocolate base with peanut nougatine and vegan peanut butter sauce
- Brown Sugar Speculoos: brown sugar base with cookie butter and crushed speculoos cookies topped with house-made chocolate sauce
- Key Lime Pie*: sweet cream base with house-made lime curd swirls and salted graham cracker streusel
- S’mores*: brown sugar base with chocolate sauce and salted graham cracker streusel
- Mango Chili Sorbet*: topped with fresh mango and tajin
Customers can also make custom flavors with all available bases, sauces and mix-ins including brownies, sprinkles, cornflake crunch and toasted kataifi, a shredded almond and walnut pastry.
MESH Architectures designed Four Winters, which features a bright, open kitchen where patrons can see the liquid nitrogen tanks and watch ice cream making in action. The eatery’s dining area has exposed brick walls, natural wood seating and a custom mural of the Manhattan and LIC skylines with changing LED lights to reflect the changing seasons.
Four Winters is open seven days a week from noon to 11 p.m. For more information visit their website or call 718-433-4657. Follow Four Winters on Instagram at @fourwinters.
