A Growing Appetite For Speciality Foods

Nestled on a hip stretch of Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles is a gleaming, stainless steel ice cream parlor named Milk. It's just one example of an independent business that is benefiting from a countrywide shift in consumer taste from the mass market to the artisanal. The three-month-old shop is quickly catching on with customers, who are attracted to its nostalgic feel and emphasis on fresh ingredients and handmade deserts. Vanilla-bean milkshakes topped with malted-milk balls, custom-built ice cream sandwiches, bonbons, and made-from-scratch brownies and cookies number among Milk's expansive offerings.

The brainchild of the former corporate executive chef for the Patina Restaurant Group (it operates New York's Sea Grill and Café Pinot in Los Angeles, among others), Bret Thompson, and his partner, former Patina pastry chef Richard Yoshimura, sank $750,000 into developing the small, premium ice cream shop that pays homage to the frozen treat's roots but with a decidedly contemporary twist. "This stems from our passion for pastries, ice cream, and nostalgia," says Thompson. "We were only going to do this if we did it by scratch." [Get full Story ¦ BusinessWeek]