SEATTLE — It’s pretty hard to improve on soft serve ice cream, but the Flora Bakehouse in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood has done it.
"We had leftover croissants one day, and we were like - wait a second,’” said owner Nat Stratton-Clarke. “(We) cut it in half, and it was just like magic happened."
Croissant cones, a mouth-watering breakthrough in ice cream vessels, can be topped with various soft-serve flavors, including vanilla and ube.
“Croissants are so crispy on the outside, so it holds all that gorgeous soft serve,” Stratton-Clarke said. “It's just this perfect buttery crunchy (combination.)"
For those who prefer cups to a cone, there’s still special whimsy.
"Our cups and spoons are color changing, so as soon as the soft serve goes in, they go from pink to purple,” Stratton-Clarke said. "It's like that little moment of joy, right?”
Ice cream is available in a vegan option – in fact, all of the treats served at Flora Bakehouse are vegetarian or vegan.
The Bakehouse is also an ideal spot for sunny days because it features a large, wraparound roof deck with plenty of shade and seating.
“It's got a view of Mount Rainier, you've got Boeing Field here so we've got a lot of kids who sit here and watch the planes,” Stratton-Clarke said. “It's amazing to have a rooftop deck when the weather's like this, to get to sit outside, eat some soft serve - nothing better in summer."
The deck and an upstairs seating area are also available to rent for private events, like birthday or tea parties.
Flora Bakehouse has become a neighborhood favorite since opening during the pandemic in 2021. Stratton-Clarke said regular customers vary from parents with small children to nearby high school students who stop by daily during their lunch hour.
For him, it all adds up to spreading joy through sweet and savory treats.
"That's the goal here,” he said. “The goal is to bring a little more joy to everyone's day."
Flora Bakehouse is located at 1511 S. Lucille Street and is open daily from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
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