14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
Astoria ice cream shop serves up
creamy goodness, distinct fries
Review and photos by MOUTH
OF THE COLUMBIA
Frite & Scoop started at home.
There, Kevin Malcolm began tinker-
ing with ice cream. Eventually his
hobby became obsessive, and when
he and wife, Lisa, moved from Seattle
to Astoria in 2014 they were astound-
ed to fi nd no shops offering home-
made ice cream. They decided to take
a chance, pairing Kevin’s ice cream
fascination with Lisa’s penchant for
Belgian fries (aka “frites”).
They found an ideal location on
the Astoria Riverwalk — perfect for
wandering tourists. The interior is
cute and friendly, with tables inside
and on a covered, wind-shielded pa-
tio. Ordering at the counter can take
a moment since Frite’s scoopers en-
courage customers to sample from the
12 different ice creams and sorbets in
the freezer. There’s also a selection of
baked sweets, including cookies, Rice
Crispy treats made with brown butter
and so on — all of which make fi ne
pairings with the frozen desserts.
Savory selection is a lot easier.
It’s about choosing a size — from
Regular ($4) to Double ($8) — and
some dipping sauces. The Double is a
nice snack for two adults to share, but
it’s certainly not a meal.
The frites are twice fried. They’re
cut thick and short, like husky steak
fries. The two-part process affords
a crispier crust while maintaining
a softer center. It’s a process that
Frite & Scoop monitors obsessively.
Finding that ideal frying time — fi ve
minutes — was the result of relentless
research. What the process yields is
distinct, though it won’t have you
re-thinking the very existence of
fries. They’re served in an elevated
cone with a steel base and a paper
sleeve, salted with plain sea salt or a
mild rosemary whose nuance only
becomes apparent when one avoids
the dipping sauces.
But why would you want to do
that? The fl avors are myriad, from
savory to sweet. They come in two
basic tiers: free — which includes
regular ketchup; a thin, mild honey
mustard; and North Coast Fry Sauce,
a ketchup-and-mayonnaise blend I
found overly sweet — and premium,
which cost 75 cents apiece. The paper
cups are fi rmly medium sized, and
it’s a shame the fi rst premium sauce
isn’t included. Were a Double frites
serving reliant on one premium dip, a
single cup wouldn’t be enough.
That was the case with the Malt
Vinegar Aioli, which my companion
and I — along
with owner
Kevin —
agreed was our
The Belgian frites come in two sizes
absolute favor-
with many choices of accompanying
ite. Creamy with
dipping sauces.
the perfect, bitter
vinegar bite,
I’d swap it for
this next one ... I’ll put it down, just
any tartar sauce.
one more.” The chunks of doughy
(Heck, it might
pie, too, were delectable. (Along with
be worth buying a
the frites, Lisa handles all the baking
side to take up to
duties for the frozen components.)
the Bowpicker...)
The Zesty Lime wasn’t quite
To my surprise,
zesty
or lime-y enough — cream
s,
or
e cream fl av
ic
t
en
er
the Blueberry
prevailed.
The vegan Berry Sorbet
ff
di
n
rves a doze
option.
Mayo worked.
Frite & Scoop se ; there is always one vegan
was
adequately
tart, and I enjoyed
se
created in-hou
While it made for
the seeds and chunks of berry. (Frite
a more dessert-like
dipping sauces, the ice creams at
& Scoop always stocks at least one
potato, it wasn’t overwhelmingly
Frite & Scoop are creamy uber alles.
vegan alternative.)
sweet. The Thai Chili was, lamenta-
(Mostly that’s the custard base, which
Hokey Pokey is Frite & Scoop’s
bly, more sugar than spice. The Chi-
includes more egg than traditional
most popular fl avor, so much so that
potle Aioli offered a smokiness with
ice cream.) The fl avors are generally
the ice cream shop has launched
a back-of-the-throat heat. The Dill
deep and rich, though there are a few
a chocolate iteration. The original
was fresh and pointy, cranked up with tart, shaper edges. They’re available
Pokey is rich and buttery with a hon-
sour cream. Though spending a few
in Little Scoops ($2), Singles ($3.50), eycomb candy that offers a luscious,
dollars on sauces, some of which you Doubles ($5.50) and Pints ($8). Run-
soft crystalline textural experience.
won’t enjoy nearly as much as others, of-the-mill, mass-produced cones
Indeed, Frite & Scoop excels as
is a minor luxury, sampling so many
are free, but it’s worth ponying up
much texturally as anywhere. Rather
of them together was a joy, both in
the extra 50 cents for the Krumkake
than inundating eaters with toppings,
taste and in aesthetics. Many of the
cone, a waffl e-like cone made in-
these ice cream makers rely on scarci-
fl avors arose from a creamy base, and house with a melted Hershey’s kiss at ty, a dance with supply and demand
all shared a lovely, congruent, pastel
the bottom.
that really makes the additions like
color palette.
That’s how I had my Lemon Me-
fi nding hidden treasure. Often, the
After frites we went back for ice
ringue Pie, which perfectly balanced
additions run through the creamy
cream. In handing out samples, Kevin creaminess with a citrus curd. It was
custard like veins of gold.
bulged with pride, sharing the scratch an ideal marriage of sugar and salt
The chunks of chocolate-cov-
process for the base custard that
that kept me coming back for bite af-
ered toffee and pecans in the Turtle
uses only fi ve ingredients. Like the
ter bite: “This will be my last ... after
Sunday were decadent, far superior to
FRITE & SCOOP
Rating:
175 14th St., Astoria
HOURS: Noon to 7 p.m. Sun-
day, Monday and Thursday.
Noon to 8 p.m. Friday and
Saturday. Closed Tuesday and
Wednesday. Hours change
seasonally.
PRICE: $ – premium snacks
SERVICE: A vibrant, earnest,
generous family atmosphere
VEGETARIAN / VEGAN OP-
TIONS: Always at least one
vegan sorbet, vegetarian fry
sauces
DRINKS: Boutique sodas, com-
plimentary water.
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Poor
Below average
Good & worth return
Excellent
Best in region
the plain Toffee fl avor (though either
would go smashingly with some
espresso). The Cinnamon Donut
twinkled with cinnamon like osmo-
sis, though was light on the donut.
The berry in the Strawberry Oreo
was second to cream and cake. The
Chef’s Choice, which featured red
fault-line streaks, tasted buttery with
no hint of fruitiness that the color
implied. Again, though: tremendous
texture.
In aggregate, cream was the
dominant fl avor. Unlike Buttercup
in Nehalem, which conducts more
radical fl avor experiments, Frite &
Scoop inhabits a narrower lane — but
it’s one Kevin and Lisa are in total
control of.
Indeed, sticking with the segments
they’re most comfortable — and
avoiding the ones they’re not — is
what makes Frite & Scoop such a
success. That, and the vibrant, caring,
family-friendly atmosphere they’ve
created for customers and employees
alike. Indeed, Frite & Scoop rep-
resents the better instincts of modern
food as well as the growth of Astoria.
The two go hand-in-hand.