South Uptown has it pretty nice—one homemade ice cream shop closes for another to open in its spot.
Sweet Joon opens this week in the former La La Homemade Ice Cream storefront (3146 Hennepin Ave. S.), with Persian flavor and familiar comforts.
Ice cream flavors include saffron pistachio rose (their signature ice cream), chocolate brownie, and mango pineapple ginger.
Sweet Joon’s ice cream is developed by Matt Akhavan Smith and Liz Akhavan who both enjoy the experimentation that goes into making ice cream flavors. To get the right amount of cardamom flavor in their ice cream, it took days of testing.
“We stirred it up and taste tested it every day,” Liz Akhavan said.
As they left the ice cream to sit in cardamom, they had to figure out how many days of soaking was just enough to make the cardamom to shine but not be overpowering.
Their cardamom crunch ice cream includes a Persian-style peanut brittle with honey, saffron, rose water, pistachios and almonds.
Liz had dreams of opening an ice cream truck as a “side hustle,” so when Tadji, Liz’s sister, saw that the La La Homemade Ice Cream space was available, they contacted the owner right away.
“The next day, we talked to the owner,” Liz said. “Wednesday we toured the shop. Wednesday night we put in the offer. Thursday morning she accepted. So it was very much the stars aligned.”
Tadji and her husband Matt also live in South Uptown.
“We’re not only living in the community, but we're actually a small business, contributing in the community,” Tadji said. “That feels really good.”
Sweet Joon offers gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan options. Hours are Wednesday-Sunday noon-10 p.m.
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