Where to Try Thai Ice Cream in Los Angeles: Best Thai Scoop Shops | Eater LA
"Started as a pop-up and now operating at Smorgasburg every Sunday since the summer 2023 with a retail location in Torrance that opened in September 2024, this maker treats ice cream like a lab. Owner Saran “Darwin” Wai draws on formal training—“I have a background in genetics engineering and a degree in molecular biology,” Wai explains—and on Thai culinary ingredients: his riceberry horchata uses riceberry (a purple Thai rice with antioxidants invented at Kasetsart University in Bangkok) and he explains the concept succinctly: “So it’s a flavor inspired by a Mexican drink, using Thai rice, turned into an Italian gelato, and made by a Thai guy,” Wai says. He also describes his entry into the medium: “I discovered the whole world of the science of ice cream, and it’s so fun. You can manipulate every single thing in ice cream, and when you taste that first bite, it made me want to start my own ice cream brand.” Signature and experimental flavors include Thai pesto gelato made with sweet Thai basil, durian-and-mezcal, and a Thai tea flavor (one of the first he developed). Wai returns repeatedly to coconut: “Coconut is the flavor that got me started, and coconut ice cream is my favorite thing,” and he frames the craft broadly: “But ice cream is a blank canvas. Once you know how to draw it, you can draw anything.”" - Kat Thompson
