HUNTSVILLE — Something cold, sweet and creamy has landed in downtown Huntsville.
Husband and wife duo Ryan and Geri-Martha O’Hara will officially open Birmingham-based Big Spoon Creamery on Saturday in downtown Huntsville.
The Big Spoon Creamery is at 201 Jefferson Street next door to Melt. It is the couple’s third location in the state.
The space, designed by David Baker Architects, embodies Big Spoon’s fun, friendly, and approachable personality with modern touches and pastel coloring.
Seating accommodates up to 25 guests inside, and another 20 on the outdoor patio.
The couple are fine dining chefs, meeting and working at Chef Frank Stitt’s restaurants in Birmingham. Geri-Martha is a pastry chef who made ice cream to accompany her pastries.
The newlyweds took that experience and passion and, in 2014, started an ice cream cart serving high traffic areas of Birmingham during events.
“We are both passionate about ice cream and felt nobody in Birmingham was doing anything interesting with desserts or ice cream, and we found it to be well received,” said Ryan.
From there they opened their first freestanding ice creamery in the Avondale neighborhood of Birmingham in 2017 and a second location in Homewood in 2019.
Downtown Huntsville is their third location.
“We use local Birmingham produce and ingredients including local milk in all our flavors,” said Ryan. “It is made in our production kitchen in Birmingham in 12-quart batches and delivered to our other locations.”
The O’Haras said the menu will consist of three mainstay flavors -vanilla, chocolate, and cookies and cream. Geri-Martha creates the rest of the 12 rotating seasonal flavors, all unique recipes. This includes baking cakes that are deconstructed in flavors such as “The DeCarlo” and “Roasted Strawberry Shortcake”.
Big Spoon Creamery also offers a selection of vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free options to accommodate dietary restrictions like gluten-free graham crumbs for their vegan “Beach Bonfire” flavor.
From flavors like “Brambleberry Cobbler,” which features local berries and house-made cobbler crumble, to “Coffee Almond Toffee,” which incorporates locally roasted Non-Fiction Coffee and house-made toffee, guests can expect to experience world-class ice cream infused with Alabama ingredients and passion.
“From the beginning, our goal has been simple: to make the best possible ice cream for our guests,” said Geri-Martha. “We believe the best way to do that is by handcrafting every product, using the highest quality ingredients.
“This allows us to channel our creativity and passion for supporting farmers and purveyors by incorporating local and seasonal ingredients – such as strawberries from Harvest Farm in Cullman.
“We are proud that our ice creams consist of only the highest quality ingredients and that will continue to be one of our biggest differentiators.”
“We love Huntsville,” Ryan said. “We looked in Huntsville in 2019 but then COVID hit so we put things on hold, but we feel like this location right in the heart of downtown is perfect because it is such a vibrant entertainment district with lots of family-friendly entertainment.
“We are thrilled to open our doors to the Huntsville community and provide our guests with the unmatched hospitality experience and high-quality ice cream that are trademarks of Big Spoon Creamery. As our business has grown over the years, we have worked tirelessly to ensure that we remain rooted in our mission to provide elite artisanal ice cream from a team that prides itself on excellence and hospitality.
“We look forward to bringing that level of service to the people of Huntsville.”
Big Spoon Creamery’s hours are Sunday through Thursday from noon to 9 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m.
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