![]() ![]() At the time, the only ice cream shops in Chinatown were Häagen-Dazs, which is pretty upscale, and Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, which we loved but wasn’t in the area where we wanted to be.Īround the same time, Minus10 (f.k.a. I didn’t want to have to buy a big box and eat it all by myself, so I started thinking about creating my own ice cream shop. I was craving some Asian-flavored mochi ice cream, but I could only find large boxes of it in grocery stores. I stepped out for some ice cream because it was really hot, and I needed something to help cool me down. The catalyst for our ice cream shop appeared on a summer’s day, while I was working at my nonprofit job. My parents worked in the restaurant industry my dad was a Chinese immigrant and could only get restaurant jobs after coming to the U.S., so I grew up around food. I’ve always wanted to do something related to food. ![]() In the beginning, we would just get drinks and spitball a bunch of ideas while hanging out. He was in finance and realized that finance wasn’t for him, so we flirted with the idea of starting a business together. While I was working at the nonprofit, Jason was thinking about the next chapter of this life. 2 on Henry Street and have been friends for about 20 years. We went to elementary school together at P.S. After graduating, I worked for 5 years at a nonprofit that provided affordable housing for the Two Bridges neighborhood in the Lower East Side. Mike: I was a communications major in college. Jason: Mike was the brainchild of this business. Look at their pretty Instagram feed! Could you please provide us with some background on yourselves? What inspired you to start your business? We now have up to 16 flavors as a frozen option. In the past year, due to COVID, we’ve strengthened our frozen / pint offerings so that people can still enjoy our ice cream at home. Our rotations are usually seasonal, and we have about 4 a year. We keep 4 soft serve flavors on tap at the Chinatown store. We stick to the flavors that we know and like, and we want to make the best possible version of those flavors. We’re known for our specialty, Asian-inspired flavors such as purple yam (ube), black sesame, and matcha. We started off doing soft serve ice cream, but we now offer frozen pints and sorbets as well. By the name of our store, you can probably guess that we sell ice cream! We opened our first store on Allen Street in December 2016. Hi! We are Mike and Jason, the co-founders of Soft Swerve. Tell us about your business and who you are! How long have you been open? What do you sell at your store? Read on to learn about how Mike and Jason started their business and how they have been faring during COVID. Over the years, Soft Swerve has captured the hearts of many with their exciting flavor rotations and drool-worthy Instagram page. Opened by two childhood friends, Soft Swerve has been serving unique, Asian-inspired ice cream flavors from its original location on Allen Street since 2016. ![]() Last month, I interviewed Mike and Jason - co-founders of Soft Swerve - for Welcome to Chinatown’s Business Spotlight series, and I’m super excited to share their story with all of you! I personally tried their ice cream last fall during Welcome to Chinatown’s “In the Mood for Food” block walk, and I can confidently say that, of all the ice cream I’ve had over my quarter century of life, Soft Swerve is probably in my top 3 (my other favorites are the soft serve taiyaki ice cream from SomiSomi and the super unique flavors of ice cream from Wanderlust Creamery - both of which are in Los Angeles). ![]() Finally, a post about my kryptonite: ice cream! Back during my prime ice cream eating days (circa 2010), I could down a full half gallon all by myself in one sitting. ![]()
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