News

http://www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2010/06/ruby_jewel_will_be_scoopin_on.html

It's official: Ruby Jewel's premium ice cream sandwiches, first served in 2004 under a pink umbrella at the Portland Farmers Market, will soon have a storefront home on North Mississippi Avenue called Ruby Jewel Scoops. Owner Lisa Herlinger-Esco told The Oregonian that she has signed a four-year lease on an 1,100-square-foot space with a summer-ready roll-up garage door in the front. Herlinger-Esco plans to open in mid-July.

Unlike at Herlinger-Esco's farmers market stands, Ruby Jewel Scoops will not be limited to pre-packaged ice cream sandwiches. Instead, visitors will be able to select from a variety of ice cream flavors and types of cookies to create custom-made-to-order sweet sandwich treats or pick up a take-home do-it-yourself kit comprising a bag of cookies and a pint of ice cream. For those who prefer a more mainstream scoop shop, Ruby Jewel also will serve its ice cream in cones -- homemade, of course -- or cups.

Herlinger-Esco will rely on a muscular new Emery Thompson 24-quart ice cream maker to produce 12 small-batch flavors that will rely primarily on local, seasonal ingredients. She says her decision to locate on North Mississippi came about after negotiations on a Northeast Alberta Street space faltered. Other craft and artisan venues in the immediate vicinity include Amnesia Brewing and The Meadow, a specialty salt and chocolate retailer.

Herlinger-Esco has been recognized locally for her entrepreneurial prowess. She was the 2004 winner of the "American Food Fight," a contest sponsored by the Food Innovation Center, operated in Portland by Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Agriculture. More recently, she was honored with an Emerging Small Business award from Portland State University's Business Outreach Program.

Ruby Jewel fans will see the scoop shop's distinctive script logo and bright colors emerge in the next few days once construction on the space begins.

(3713 N. Mississippi Ave., open daily beginning in mid-July from late morning until late night; rubyjewel.net)