Sketch Ice Cream is Closing

[rightstar]

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.

[drewskiSF]

I don't know if it's been mentioned previously, but The Pho Bar on Euclid in Berkeley has been serving Sketch Organic Tart Fro-yo since they opened, mid-2011.

[Robert Lauriston]

Is Sketch supposedly reopening somewhere else or what?

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Sketch Ice Cream
1809 4th St, Berkeley, CA 94710

[Leadbelly]

Just passed by this corner this morning (4th and Addison)--there was a sign in the window, saying that Sketch is reopening, signed from Eric and Ruthie... no more details that I could see--my dog was not going to stand for another stop on our walk until we got to Aquatic Park.

Their Facebook page says they just passed their health inspection and have a little more cosmetic work to do on the space before they open, but it does sound like they will open soon!

[wolfe]

Across Addison from the sake factory in the new apartment complex?
2080 Fourth Street.

[JojoSF]

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.)

[indigirl]

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....

[rworange]

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/3702...

[rightstar]

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.

[lexdevil]

Think I'm going to have to gorge myself on chocolate pudding cake over the next two weeks.

[Joan Kureczka]

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.

[rightstar]

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.

[J T]

Thanks for the heads up.

[pastryqueen]

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.

[jsaimd]

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.

[maria lorraine]

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.

[rightstar]

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.

[JasmineG]

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.

[rworange]

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.

[Ruth Lafler]

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.

[jsaimd]

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"

[JasmineG]

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.

[Ruth Lafler]

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.

[rightstar]

Tara's and Ici's both use egg yolk in their ice cream. Sketch only uses milk. So it has less fat and cholesterol.

[sfbing]

When exactly are they closing?

[MollyGee]

July 31st.

[heidipie]

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.

[vnchile]

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!

[Agent 510]

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....