Koolfi Creamery and Cafe
Ice cream shop · San Leandro ·
Unique Indian-inspired ice cream: mango lassi, guava chili
Unique Indian-inspired ice cream: mango lassi, guava chili
"Opening under the Vacant to Vibrant program’s second slate, Koolfi Creamery serves small-batch, Indian-influenced ice cream scoops and is one of the eight new businesses that opened on Tuesday, June 18." - Justine Jones
"The Indian-German-American backgrounds of co-owners Madhuri “Mads” Anji and her wife Priti Narayanan come through with every flavor at Koolfi. Starting as a pop-up in 2018, Koolfi’s high-quality, small-batch approach keeps hitting home runs in the permanent shop in San Leandro, as they put out complex, deeply satisfying flavors like Bombay butterscotch with cashew toffee, banana pudding with cardamom-soaked hunks of gulab jamun, and sweet guava with hints of chili. There are a few seats inside, but if the weather is nice enough (and there’s space), grab your scoops and enjoy every last bite out on the front patio." - Lena Park
"I’m looking forward to the duo behind Koolfi Creamery, Priti Narayanan and Madhuri Anji, bringing South Asian–inspired ice creams to the city, including creative flavors like banana paired with gulab jamun bites." - Paolo Bicchieri
"Born from a period of recovery after a 2014 bus accident, the founders turned to ice cream: Priti Narayanan became the brand’s chief ice cream engineer after studying ice cream at the University of Wisconsin–Madison while Madhuri Anji helps run the business. They started with an ice cream cart, serving festivals and catering company socials for clients like Netflix and Google, and in the second half of 2022 opened a storefront in San Leandro. Narayanan draws inspiration from everyday discoveries—her blueberry goat cheese ice cream, finished with roasted graham crackers for texture, is one notable experiment—and she plans specialty desserts such as gulab jamun sundaes and ice cream served in dosa cones, served alongside Indian snacks, all aiming to present desi flavors in approachable formats." - Kamakshi Ayyar
"An Indian-inspired, California-fresh ice cream pop-up, Koolfi Creamery & Cafe opened on October 20 at 599 MacArthur Boulevard in San Leandro; owners Priti Narayanan and Madhuri "Mads" Angi, a married couple, have been serving dairy- and coconut-based treats at events for a few years and are now operating a storefront." - Paolo Bicchieri