Milkcraft: Ice Cream Worth The Wait (And The Cost)

A line of customers outside waiting to get inside is the best kind of advertising there is. Since Milkcraft, a ice cream shop that makes the ice cream for each cone to order, opened this spring in Fairfield’s Brick Walk, the line has been long and thick — from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.

Milkcraft is a happening little spot offering the smoothest ice cream in irresistible combinations like sea salted caramel bejeweled with maple kettle corn, served in a pillowy, house-made bubble waffle.

With flavors like PB & J with roasted caramelized banana, breakfast cereal with Cocoa Puffs, and s’mores campfire — dark cocoa ice cream topped with a fire-roasted marshmallow and dusted with graham cracker crumbs — Milkcraft’s demographic is the young. And affluent. These may be the most expensive ice cream cones you’ve ever bought in your life, $8 to $10 and up depending on number of scoops and embellishments.

The price is worth it for the experience of tasting ice cream so smooth, it reminded us of gelato, and so deeply flavored and paired with the tastes and textures everyone loves today: smooth, sweet, crunchy and salty.

Milkcraft is also a show. Inside the vibrantly tiled little shop is designed in a contemporary style with black, white and natural wood tones. A wall-sized chalkboard illustrates the offerings with good humor. Behind the glass barrier, there’s a row of Kitchen Aid mixers ready to whip your order before your eyes, using liquid nitrogen to freeze the ingredients into a smooth suspension. Cold vapor snakes from the bowls. A row of electric waffle irons are lined on the back counter. The waffles are served warm.

Smokin choco de leche is a chocolate lover’s dream, pairing chocolate with rich caramelized flavor. Black flakes of smoked sea salt were a dramatic topping. You can skip the waffle and just have a scoop, of, say Vietnamese coffee ice cream ($6.45), and if the guy at the counter suggests adding Nutella ($1.50), take his advice. Scoops (you can order one, two or three) can also be paired with a “creameebun,” a housemade glazed doughnut with a strangely spelled name.

Milkcraft’s attempt to bring local flavors to its adult audience with an ice cream flavored with Stratford’s Two Roads Brewery’s milk stout didn’t garner enough orders to stay on the menu. It wasn’t for the kids and young people who make up most of the customers, and didn’t tempt adults.

My guide to Milkcraft was an 11-going-on-12-year-old girl, back for her second visit. She’d tried the PB & J last time and was ready to try something new, the sea salt caramel with kettle corn and as an extra, freshly whipped cream. She finished every last bite. But as we walked back to the car, feeling utterly full, she wisely said, “I wouldn’t want to go back too soon.”

The next day I wondered if it were too soon.

Milkcraft, 1215 Post Road, Fairfield, is open Monday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. 475-888-9091 and milkcraftca.com.