I dare you to put a little olive oil on your ice cream at Grovestone. Sounds strange, but it’s so delicious. When I was at the little Champaign shop yesterday buying more balsamic vinegar and roasted onion olive oil (my favorites), all that ice cream next to the register looked so tempting that I ordered a small ice cream ($4.49), too.
Once I had my strawberry cheesecake ice cream, I added a drizzle of blood-orange olive oil — and it was so good! Since the oil had a concentrated flavor, a little drip gave an intense orange taste, which paired so well with the sweet strawberry swirls. Throughout the ice cream, there were pieces of gooey cheesecake with tangy cream cheese and softened graham cracker crust. The savory orange oil contrasted the ice cream’s sweet, rich flavors making a crazy good treat.
Grovestone isn’t an ice cream shop; it’s an olive oil store that happens to sell tasty ice cream. There’s a wall of 15+ different olive oils (and flavored balsamic, too) that are free to drip on ice cream or sample without any ice cream at all. For more about the Champaign business, check out their website, and read about the ice cream (and other desserts) in Matt’s review from March.
Grovestone
1707 W Kirby Ave
Champaign
M-F 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sa 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
