Now Arriving: Quenelle

When dessert shop Quenelle opened in Burbank last 2013, ice cream lovers and dessert junkies went crazy. With 300 rotating ice cream flavors to choose from and a variety of creative, yummy pastries and sweet treats to snack on, Quenelle became an instant favorite with locals.

Fast forward to 2015: Quenelle is finally closer to home! On February 20, Quenelle opened in San Marino, much to the delight of adults and kids with persistent sweet tooth. Owner and pastry master John Park marks Quenelle as his third dessert spot after the Burbank branch and Ice Que, a shave ice spot in Alhambra.

“One difference between the two stores is, here, we’re actually going to do cold press juices and we hope to start next week,” says Park. Another unique facet of this location is that it will exclusively feature their pies, a fact Park seemed very excited about.

All of their products are made fresh at their Burbank location and trucked over to San Marino. From pastries to custom wedding cakes, Park focuses on rotation and new, inventive flavors by creating only small batches.

“We make very small batches of everything, and so that once something is done we can add on a new flavor.”

And they certainly have no lack of flavors. “When you include popsicles on top of [our ice cream flavors], ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches…in a year and a half, we’ve made about 350 flavors.”

Like Quenelle Burbank, the San Marino branch features bestsellers and all-time favorite ice cream flavors, like Blueberry Pie, Strawberry Shortcake, Vanilla Mascarpone, Cookie Butter, Mango Cheesecake, Green Tea, and Coconut Mango. Toppings like caramelized rice, mochi, bourbon caramel, and graham cracker streusel ensure you get the creation you’re craving.

They even made a foie gras rocky road ice cream! Foie gras was seared with hazelnut paste and marbled with fudge, marshmallows, candy, and hazelnuts to mark the life of the foie gras ban in California. And if you ask nice, you might be able to get a taste!

Cookies, brownies, and other pastries are also on display inside this laidback and cozy store.

“We’re just trying to bring [a fine-dining] level of attention to detail and that level of care for food into the neighborhood,” expressed Park.

Visit soon! Quelle San Marino is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weeknights, and 10:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Quenelle is located at 2136 Huntington Dr., San Marino. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/quenellespoon.