Kendra Baker (Photo by Chip Scheuer)
This is part of an in-depth, multi-part look at Santa Cruz's artisan food movement: Intro .html| Pizza.html | Ice Cream.html | Bakeries.html | Meat.html | Jam, Snacks and More.html
Locals who have watched the Penny Ice Creamery expand to three locations in as many years can be forgiven for thinking that its founders are looking to go “big time.” But the truth is most of the conversations between owners Kendra Baker and Zach Davis are about how to stay small time, even as the business grows.
“We really talk a lot about ‘is this the right step? Are we still going to be able to have that farm-direct connection?’” says Baker. “It’s really important to us that the ‘Penny way’ is maintained.”
The ‘Penny way’ includes, but is not limited to: creative, boundary-pushing flavors; sourcing from local producers; making their ice cream from scratch; and committing to using the smallest pasteurizer on the market, which limits them to very small batches, but allows for a huge amount of flexibility in each one.
It has led to the Penny phenomenon, which began when they opened their first shop on Cedar Street in 2010. Within a year, they had a second ice cream location, the kiosk on Pacific Avenue, as well as the Picnic Basket, a restaurant that features the culinary work of other local artisans. Now, they’re opening a full-service shop on 41st Avenue, as well.
Baker feels they couldn’t have picked a better area in terms of local consumers understanding what they’re doing, and why it’s unique.
“We are this small little incubator for amazing great things, whether it be music, art, food, farming, innovative technology,” she says of Santa Cruz. “It’s inspiring. Great things come from this small little coastal town.”
Of course, this has always been a great town for frozen sweets. Marianne’s has been an institution for over 50 years. Marini’s and a long lineage of gelato spots have fostered the local obsession. That paved the way not only for Baker and Davis, but for Dave Kumec, who after a brief retail stint in 2010 built his Mission Hill Creamery brand in supermarkets, and last October opened a shop on Pacific Avenue.
Kumec graduated from UCSC in the early ’90s, and when he returned in 1995, he wasn’t too impressed with the Santa Cruz culinary scene. But he’s seen it grow steadily since then, as locals have become increasingly interested in a return to old-school techniques and values. With Bi-Rite and Tara’s Organic Ice Cream flourishing in the Bay Area, he felt that artisan ice cream could be big in Santa Cruz, as well.
“I said, ‘This is the beginning of a movement I want to be a part of,’” he remembers. “People are gaining an awareness of what is in the ice cream they used to like so much, and they’re saying, ‘I don’t really want to eat that.’ They want to be more connected to the food they eat.’” —Steve Palopoli
