Culture Feed is the blog for arts and culture in the Bay Area – produced by the culture desk of The Bay Citizen. From breaking arts news to event coverage to YouTube videos, Culture Feed aims to bring you the best in culture from around the Bay. Please drop us a line and let us know what’s on your radar.
A story published Monday on CNN GO, the news outlets travel portal, told the tale of an ice cream shop owner named Ho-June “Tristan” Choi who opened a store called Fell+Cole in Seoul that offers small-batch artisanal ice cream. It's perhaps an all-too-familiar Bay Area formulation: Choi, who used to live at the San Francisco intersections the store is named for, serves flavors like Jesus Juice (Coca Cola and red wine) and Szechuan Strawberry Sorbet, which are house flavors at Mission neighborhood ice cream spot, Humphry Slocombe.
He also serves lavander honey ice cream and burnt caramel ice cream, flavors that have grown in popularity in the Bay Area over the years, partly thanks to trend-setting outposts like Bi-Rite Creamery near Dolores Park in the Mission.
The story states that this is intentional on Choi’s part:
The store draws from the popularity of gourmet ice cream shops like Bi-Rite and Humphry Slocombe in San Francisco's Mission district. Like Humphry Slocombe, Fell + Cole offers many of the same flavors including Jesus Juice -- a sorbet made from Coca-Cola and red wine -- Strawberry Szechuan sorbet and Vietnamese coffee ice cream.
But Humphry Slocombe is less than thrilled by the imitation. The store tweeted the story out to their 310,372 Twitter followers this morning, writing: “…if by “Organic & Honest” u mean blatantly ripping us & BiRite- u nailed it. Anyone for a cease & desist sundae?”
The Bay Citizen has reached out to Humphry Slocombe and Choi and will update this post with any further information.
UPDATE: Choi responded to the Bay Citizen's email, calling the dust-up a "backfire" and linking to a message that he sent to Humphry Slocombe via Twitter. The message read in part that he was disappointed that CNN did relate that Humphry Slocombe were his "ice cream heros." He said he is not a professional chef but "just a dude who loves ice cream" who is inspired by the store. Read the whole message here.
© The Bay Citizen, 2012
voltairesmistress
This is precisely the kind of fluffy, non-story that I am disheartened to see the Bay Citizen running. Perhaps others feel different, but I don't want another San Francisco Comical to read. I want news analysis, things that make me better understand my city, region, and state. That means reading about communities I am unfamiliar with. But it doesn't mean following the ice cream wars. This isn't news. It is foodie gossip, at best.
Kate McGlashan
Seeing as Choi's store is on another continent, I don't see how it can possibly drain business away from Humphry Slocombe or Bi-Rite. The only possible outcome is that South Korean tourists would make the ice cream shops a must-try during an SF visit. I'm unimpressed with the San Francisco ice cream artisans.