Pepper Place welcomes Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, anticipates opening of Blueroot HQ

Birminghamians have flocked to Pepper Place to grab an Instagram-worthy scoop of ice cream since Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams opened its first Alabama location there in June.

Jeni Britton Bauer is a James Beard Award-winning chef, and she started her ice cream business in Ohio while in art school. But she said she always had Birmingham on her mind.

“I knew some of the history of Birmingham, but I had never been until a few years ago,” she said. “I was on a road trip ... and stopped in Birmingham for a couple of days. And I really just fell in love with this city.”

Bauer takes a different approach to making ice cream. Her team only uses fresh ingredients, and they avoid things like stabilizers and chemicals that can be found in ice cream from other vendors.

“We actually make ice cream with just milk proteins that give it body and texture,” she said. “So we don’t use egg yolk either. It’s just really fresh, really beautiful, very simple ice cream. But it’s so flavorful that then we can put all these other beautiful experiences on top of it, like pralines or brown butter or coffee.”

Many ingredients come from bakers and suppliers that her team knows personally, and this makes it even better, she said.

It’s more than just the ice cream though, Bauer said — it’s how customers feel when they’re in the space.

“We’re just a very creative, very open company,” she said. “The idea of flavor is very important to us, like celebrating everyone’s flavor. We just love people so much, and I think that’s so much a part of it.”

Depending on the season, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams will have between 16-22 ice cream flavors for customers to choose from, and more flavors are sometimes available by the pint.

“Every time you go there, there should be something new, if not a few things,” Bauer said.

Bauer eats a few scoops of her Brown Butter Almond Brittle almost every single night, she said. Tart flavors are also some of her favorites, she said, because she uses a buttermilk that’s made from a small dairy just for her team.

“It brings tartness to the cream and the milk, and it just has an extraordinary texture,” she said.

To celebrate joining the Pepper Place community, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams also partnered with Birmingham Candy Company to create a limited-edition flavor, Praline Pecans. Birmingham Candy Co. sent Bauer and her team an order of pralines, and then Bauer perfected an ice cream flavor that tasted similar to the Birmingham pralines. Making caramel ice cream flavors can be a complex, even dangerous process, Bauer said, but it’s one of her team’s specialties.

“It’s a good one to taste — it’s very emotional,” she said.

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is open daily from noon to 11 p.m. Visit jenis.olo.com for more information.

BLUEROOT COMES FULL CIRCLE

The Blueroot Company will also soon make its way to Pepper Place. The healthy meals company had been operating out of a commissary kitchen in Irondale, and it just opened a pick-up window in Mountain Brook Village. The Pepper Place location will be the company’s flagship location, offering customers a fast-casual dining experience.

“Blueroot was born at Pepper Place at the farmer’s market a year ago, so it’s really special that we’re coming full circle,” owner Jennifer Ryan said. “It was an important place for us to debut, one because of our partnership with local farmers ... and when we thought of the location of our flagship, the city of Birmingham itself was a very important component in the decision. We’re really excited about what Pepper Place has to offer.”

The menu will include customizable salads and green bowls. There will also be breakfast options, smoothies and a line of superfood snacks. Customers can walk in and sit at a table, or they can order online and do curbside pickup.

The 1,750-square-feet space is directly below the Dr. Pepper sign, and it will be fully equipped with a kitchen, unlike the Mountain Brook location. Ryan said she hopes to build a clean, airy and open space that is reminiscent of California. Vegetables will be sourced locally, she said.

“We’re focused on three things,” she said. “We’re focused on delightful food that tastes amazing. We’re focused on making sure every bite is packed with nutrients. And we’re focused on an experience that is very convenient.”

Growing up in southern California had a big influence on Ryan’s view of health and nutrition.

“I harnessed early lessons about eating whole foods for energy and sustenance, and tried to apply those lessons while playing Division I athletics, working full time in New York or traveling for my job,” Ryan said in a news release in June. “When my husband and I moved to Birmingham, we celebrated the burgeoning food scene, but lamented the lack of healthy, convenient choices. Blueroot was born to bring a bright and healthy option to our Birmingham community, especially for those on the move.”

Tom Walker, chief operating officer of Sloss Real Estate, added: “Blueroot represents another successful graduate of the Market at Pepper Place taking brick-and-mortar space inside Birmingham’s city limits.”

Ryan said she anticipates the flagship location will be open by early 2021. Visit bluerootco.com for more information.