636025 Sun Jul 12 16:02:11 -0700 2009 24 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 4851846 Sketch is closing. There will be no place in the SF bay area to get real organic ice cream. and his competitors either have hardly any fruit ice cream to offer or have fillers. What a sad day in the world of real organic food. Oh I wish he would stay open. Maybe we can change his mind. Otherwise eat as much Sketch ice cream as you can in the next week or forever hold your piece. Take your children there so they know what real ice cream tastes like. Because they may never again be able to taste what real is. Sun Jul 12 16:02:11 -0700 2009 35524 rightstar 1 4851899 I for one can't say I'm sorry. I've tried it a few times and my reaction was the same each time..."Just OK, not great...I paid that much for this?" It can't hold a candle to my new loves Ici and Tara's across town. And eating as much Sketch as you can in a week might require taking out a loan.... Sun Jul 12 16:27:38 -0700 2009 4851846 11816 Agent 510 1 4851956 Sketch was always my favorite! I've been going since they opened. I was never a fan of Ici but I do like Tara's. Eric and Ruthie's sweets and baked goods were always great. I wish them the best - and to their growing family! Sun Jul 12 17:02:13 -0700 2009 4851846 91077 vnchile 1 4852213 Tara's and Ici's both use egg yolk in their ice cream. Sketch only uses milk. So it has less fat and cholesterol. Sun Jul 12 18:45:47 -0700 2009 4851846 35524 rightstar 2 4852360 When exactly are they closing? Sun Jul 12 19:46:33 -0700 2009 4852213 237172 sfbing 3 4852511 July 31st. Sun Jul 12 20:56:04 -0700 2009 4852360 11798 MollyGee 2 4852492 Rightstar, "real ice cream" tends to have egg yolk and cream. Sketch is "real" ice milk, no matter how much you love it. Ici may have its inconsistencies, but they've been making the most of the spring and summer's fruit options. In the last month Ici has had apricot ice cream, nectarine sorbet, boysenberry ice cream, blueberry ice milk, pluot sherbet, strawberry-rhubarb-rose ice cream, etc. etc. Most (with the weird exception of the apricot) have exploded with fruit flavor. Sun Jul 12 20:46:44 -0700 2009 4852213 10331 heidipie 1 4852593 If you love the product, fine, but don't make untrue claims like it being the only real organic cream in the Bay Area. Especially since, as pointed out, it isn't "real ice cream" at all. Sun Jul 12 21:41:31 -0700 2009 4851846 10159 Ruth Lafler 1 4852644 Poor Morton the Mousse. He'll be as heart-broken about this as I was with Lola's closing. That is really a shame. I loved their baked goods and thought they were doing something different. Not being a fan of the icky to me ICI, I'll miss them. I hate this damn economy. Sun Jul 12 22:13:45 -0700 2009 4851846 10264 rworange 2 4852695 I don't see any indication that this has anything to do with the economy (which, to be sure, no one is happy about). There's nothing about the store closing on their website, but there is stuff about how they're having a baby -- maybe they just decided it was too much work. There's also no indication on the website that, as of a week ago, they were planning on closing. For all we know, this whole thread is an unsubstantiated rumor. Sun Jul 12 22:53:26 -0700 2009 4852644 10159 Ruth Lafler 3 4853368 From their blog "As many of you well know, were expecting our first baby in about 4 weeks. Its a very exciting time in our lives and it brings us bittersweet news to let you know that Sunday, July 26th will be our last day on Fourth Street as a retail location. Its been a great 5 years getting to know many of you (many by name, some by facial recognition, some by their consistent ordering patterns,etc. ) and seeing many of your children grow from the womb on up to being able to see over the counter :P Sketch was our "first baby" and all the heart, love, soul and energy we put into that we'd like to re-focus and give to our child. Family always comes first with us! Sketch isn't disappearing...it's just taking a lil break from the retail aspect. We look forward to serving you our goodies (candies, pastries, sauces/fixins, ice cream cakes and other custom orders) via online!! From the bottom of our hearts we want to thank you for your patronage and support! Eric & Ruthie" Mon Jul 13 07:54:31 -0700 2009 4852695 15001 jsaimd 4 4854139 I'm really glad to hear that they're going to keep doing some of the business via custom order, their baked goods and toppings are fantastic, and I'd love to order one of their ice cream cakes one day. Mon Jul 13 11:28:30 -0700 2009 4853368 13525 JasmineG 1 4852694 Wow, this is a shame. I never really loved their ice cream (and less so after it became soft serve), but their baked goods and toppings were fantastic, and the people who own it are really nice. I hope they can keep that side of the business going in some way. Sun Jul 12 22:52:57 -0700 2009 4851846 13525 JasmineG 1 4852727 I really like their ice cream because it's soft serve. I know a lot of people don't like that, but the softness makes it easy to eat and it melts quickly which I like. I also like it that their portions are small. It's hard not to eat all the ice cream in my cup so the smaller sizes are definitely good for my waist line. I will definitely miss them. Sun Jul 12 23:37:42 -0700 2009 4851846 35524 rightstar 1 4852751 I am saddened to hear this. I loved their ice cream, though I was thrown when they switched to all soft serve. However, the two owners are both so talented, certainly they will create a new creative chapter for themselves. Personally, I loved that their flavors were ice milk. The flavors were purer, clearer, and more direct because the flavor wasn't occluded by cream. Mon Jul 13 00:33:23 -0700 2009 4851846 18222 maria lorraine 1 4853375 We finally tried it when we were on that side of the bay a few weeks ago and really liked the bold flavors. I liked that is was a different type of ice cream...I was expecting to be let down and was pleasantly surprised. Mon Jul 13 07:56:01 -0700 2009 4851846 15001 jsaimd 1 4853755 well. . . good from them for having their priorities straight. I love them and their products and am happy to see from their blog posts that they will continue to offer their incomparable baked goods, candies, etc. Their toffee, their thoughtfully flavored ice cream, Eric and Ruthie themselves and most especially their fresh fig cake (which just happens to be vegan!) were some of my favorite things in the East Bay! I will miss them. Mon Jul 13 09:33:41 -0700 2009 4851846 169526 pastryqueen 1 4854719 Thanks for the heads up. Mon Jul 13 13:59:50 -0700 2009 4851846 13964 J T 1 4855096 Obviously this place has/had a lot of fans. But don't count me as one. Once they went to soft serve, I really didn't care for it at all. In fact, one time when I tried the caramel I thought it was so disgusting I tossed the whole thing rather than eat more than a bit or two. Hopefully some of the few other flavors were better than that. Mon Jul 13 15:46:27 -0700 2009 4851846 15879 Joan Kureczka 2 4855224 They are wonderful. Except for the cherry because he puts too much balsamic vinegar. I like all of the others. I always go for his fruit flavors first. Mon Jul 13 16:30:26 -0700 2009 4855096 35524 rightstar 1 4855312 Think I'm going to have to gorge myself on chocolate pudding cake over the next two weeks. Mon Jul 13 17:04:10 -0700 2009 4851846 17723 lexdevil 1 4869187 I had the chocolate pudding cake. It tastes like a chocolate souffle. I also had the burnt caramel. It is so good! The best part is that after the burnt caramel flavor goes away the ice cream leaves a smooth taste in your mouth. Not the heavy taste from cream that usually remains where you have to drink water so you aren't thirsty. Wish they weren't closing. Fri Jul 17 21:44:52 -0700 2009 4851846 35524 rightstar 1 4869342 Nooooooo!!!!! I only just fell in love with their fudgesicle (after years of enjoying their various other things w/o developing any specific attachments). Aw, aw, aw. Talk about chocolate heaven on a stick (literally)... if you haven't had one, well, I don't know which is worse, never having one at all, or having one & knowing you might never get to have one again. I leave it up to y'all to decide, but I for one will be down there asking them how well those things keep in home freezers.... Sat Jul 18 00:05:53 -0700 2009 4851846 261748 indigirl 2 4869376 Thanks for reminding me about the fudgesicle, one of my favorie things at Sketch. I'll have to get at least one more before they close. Here's my report from a few years ago when I had my first one. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/37026#172296 Sat Jul 18 01:01:39 -0700 2009 4869342 10264 rworange 1 4872451 Have you made the journey to Fairfax Scoop in Marin? I think it's organic and the quality is better than Ici or Tara's or Sketch (in my opinion.) Sun Jul 19 17:13:08 -0700 2009 4851846 26917 JojoSF