Pizzeria opening and espresso martinis enhance summer in Austin food news

One of Austin's most popular breweries is getting into the soft serve ice cream game this summer. Meanwhile Brewing Co. has opened a new cream truck called Meanwhile Creamery on its property, and it's hosting an ice cream social to celebrate on Sunday, August 16.

The family-friendly social will be held from 3-6 pm with specials on sundaes and Saint Arnold root beer floats (a Texas staple and a permanent fixture at the truck), plus free face painting, a performance by a capella group ABCD, and ice cream bingo with prizes. Kids will also get to compete in a contest to make a new ice cream flavor. They'll draw their ideas and Meanwhile Creamery will make the winner a reality.

Meanwhile founder and brewmaster Will Jaquiss says he grew up in Michigan with a family chocolate and fudge business, Joann's Fudge, so Austinites narrowly missed Jaquiss staying there instead of getting into beer here. (Seems like locals are happy with their current reality.) However, Jaquiss was missing the "nostalgic summer dessert experience," and an ice cream window fit the bill.

The ice cream trailer Bésame had been a tenant at Meanwhile for five years but left this spring, later landing in Hyde Park and making Meanwhile's in-house ice cream program the only one on the property.

Now Meanwhile has a new ice cream lead, Mackenzie Wilson. About a year-and-a-half ago, Wilson started at Meanwhile as a barback (a bartender's assistant), then quickly worked up to a supervising position and now the ice cream pro. She's spent most of her time recently developing recipes, which is a much bigger commitment at Meanwhile Creamery than your standard beachside shack.

There are some standard flavors on the menu, chocolate and vanilla, but the rotating flavors go much deeper on flavor and ingredients. There will be two at a time; the current rotating flavors are a sweet corn ice cream and a salted caramel ice cream.

If those sound like they go perfectly together, it's not a coincidence. Wilson was inspired by a bag of sea salt caramel corn nuggets, she says. Rotating sundaes will feature the special flavors as they change out every couple of weeks. This week's sundae tops the sweet corn flavor with housemade blackberry jam and corn flakes.

General manager Conner Gilfillan says he appreciates how hard Wilson has been working at maximizing flavor and using as much of the whole ingredients as possible.

"[She's] buying full stocks of corn and infusing it into the ice cream, making our own salted caramel before infusing it into the ice cream, really paying attention and going through toasting our own vanilla beans, trying a number of different chocolates before landing on the one that we're really excited about, and knowing that that will continue to happen," Gilfillan says.

This is even more impressive considering that it's Wilson's first time in a culinary role. She chalks it up to "taste and enthusiasm," but also says she's spent a lot of time cooking at home and doing research. By research, she clarifies, "eating like four different ice creams a day for a very long time."

"I like to live a good life, so I think that mostly led me here," says Wilson, laughing.

Gilfillan says promoting staff from inside Meanwhile has been an important part of the business. While it helps Meanwhile fill roles as needed, it also helps bring unique talents and enthusiasm forward.

For beer and ice cream-lovers hoping to pair the two, the team has a few suggestions. Jaquiss suggests pairing the sweet corn ice cream with an Oktoberfest brew. For other pairings once these rotating flavors are gone, he'd accentuate one of Meanwhile's tea-inspired beers, like Fore! with black tea and lemon, with a classic vanilla ice cream. Wilson would pair the German-style Märzen with a swirl.

Meanwhile Brewing Co. is located at 3901 Promontory Point Dr. Meanwhile Creamery can be found behind the playground. Initial operating hours at the ice cream truck from August 13-16 are Thursday from 5-8 pm (an hour later than shown on Instagram), Friday from 4-9 pm, Saturday from noon to 9 pm, and Sunday from noon to 8 pm.