Date night stop: Pine Cone Creamery

Colville Street in Walla Walla is one of my favorite places to go for date night. From TMACS to the Colville Street Patisserie, you can find sweet, savory, fancy, and simple all within a few steps.

Recently opened Pine Cone Creamery is a welcomed addition to the block's date-night appeal. It offers a wide selection of small-batch ice cream, sorbet, coffee, and other sweet treats. Whether you prefer fresh waffle cones or ice cream in a cup, Pine Cone has it. Like to add sprinkles, chocolate, or nuts to your ice cream? They have toppings to create the perfect ice cream experience: another great feature is a selection of vegan-friendly ice cream options.

The owners, Kory and Rachel Nagler are no strangers to the foodservice industry or Walla Walla foodies. The couple also owns The Maple Counter Cafe (which happens to be one of my favorite brunch spots).

Rachel worked at an ice cream shop on 'The Ave' during her college years while attending the University of Washington in Seattle. The creamery's website says that Walla Walla first led the Naglers to open the beloved breakfast joint, however, the dream to open an ice cream shop never wavered. They jumped at the opportunity to bring it to life in 2020.

The shop has the classic flavors; chocolate, vanilla bean, (Klicker) strawberry, mint chip, and cookies and cream. Their signature flavors include banana cream pie and bourbon caramel pecan. The real fun starts with their rotating specialty flavors, including blueberry cardamom shortbread, orange dreamsicle, Mexican hot chocolate, End of the Rainbow, to name a few!

Vegan options can include cantaloupe sorbet, German chocolate, lemon poppyseed, peanut butter Oreo, raspberry chocolate. In total, the shop has 14 rotating vegan options! Vegan ice creams are made with coconut milk or oat milk, and sorbets are made with fresh fruit.

My personal favorite is honey lavender which is delicate and not particularly sweet. It is refreshing, even in triple-digit weather! Cookies and cream is another of my favorites, as it is far more cookie than cream.

My husband's favorite is blue moon. The folks at Pine Cone told us the flavor could not be easily described since it tastes different to everyone. Blue moon even has the best foodies, and ice cream lovers confused.

Food and Wine Magazine did a story about the Smurf-blue flavor in its June 11, 2021 issue. The article included various descriptions of the mysterious flavor, including citrus with strong hints of vanilla, almond extract, cotton candy, bubble gum, and Froot Loops. The author, Khushbu Shah, said that it tastes like a concoction of black cherry, vanilla pudding, and marshmallow. Ray says that it reminds him of the off-brand version of Fruity Pebbles cereal. At any rate, it is a fun flavor!

Over the weekend, we took Gracie out for a birthday ice cream, and she loved the vegan Unicorn Crush, topped with a generous helping of sprinkles.

Kid, adventurous eater, and classic ice cream lover approved, Pine Cone Creamery is a must-stop while in Walla Walla!