Inside the Wynwood shop, choose from 50 to 60 rotating flavors, each named for and inspired by hip-hop culture. Varieties include Snoopstachio (pistachio), Salt & Peppa (salty caramel with roasted nuts), and LL Cool Crunch (peanut butter with pretzels and chocolate).
Mr. Kream is the brainchild of three DJs who go by the monikers Jim, SOS, and Affect. Chances are you know the last from LIV and E11even, where he has shared the stage with the likes of Chuckie and Skrillex. Affect and his ice-cream partners also cohost a Sunday residency at Brickhouse.
“We wanted to do something where we could establish a legacy in Miami with something other the DJing,” says SOS, whose real name is Lateef Young. “One day, Jim [Valdez] told us how it was always his dream to have an ice-cream shop. It was one of those things where we laughed, instantly looked at each other, and thought, This is actually a good idea.”
The ice cream is not made in house, but it comes from “a small family-owned ice-cream maker in business for over 50 years and one of the best in South Florida who I can't give away," Young says. A recent visit to the ice-cream lounge revealed a truck from the Boynton Beach-based Ice Cream Club pulling up, presumably for a delivery. The company makes more than 200 premium ice-cream flavors for more than 500 ice-cream shops and restaurants throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, as well as the Caribbean.
Cinnamon toast crunch waffle topped with strawberry cheesecake, coconut, and butter pecan ice creams.
Carla Torres
Mr. Kream also serves beer floats. A cooler of suds includes rotating options such as Blue Point Hoptical Illusion, Wells Banana Bread Beer, Gianduja Chocolate Ale, Fat Tire, and Guinness Extra Stout. Collaborations with local brewers are likely in the future. “A big part of what we want to do moving forward is partner with local businesses doing dope shit," Young says, hinting at a possible collaboration with Wynwood neighbor the Salty Donut. “People are always coming in with their boxes to get ice cream or getting our stuff to go wait in line. It’s such a natural crossover.”
Young says the business is set to expand with a pop-up in Brickell opening in the next two weeks and a second planned for somewhere in Broward. “We’re testing it out to see how business does, but our plan is to open permanently in Brickell.”
Though they won’t be anything like the Wynwood location, which Young calls Mr. Kream's "cornerstone and flagship,” the pop-ups will offer 14 varieties, including the top-selling Two Lives Blue: a cookie dough and Oreo flavor that turns your lips blue. “We have people coming in all the time asking for the blue lips.” Ice cream ranges from $5 for one scoop to $10 for a waffle cone sundae with all the toppings, including edible "spray paint" — food coloring that kids of all ages can use to decorate their ice cream.
So when it’s a 100-degree summer day and you want to chill out with a little Kanye West (vanilla and chocolate swirl with caramel ribbon) topped with edible spray paint or hear Jay-Z’s latest album and play Pac-Man, Mr. Kream is the coolest ice-cream lounge for kids and adults to kick it. “Everyone loves ice cream no matter how old you are, and Jim and Affect both have children, so it's nice to have a place with a PG-13 environment that wasn’t the club where their kids could come see them at work type thing,” SOS says. “Plus, kids rule everything around me,” he adds, which happens to be Mr. Kream's acronym.
Update: After publication, Mr. Kream owner Ari Kalimi (DJ Affect) called New Times to say the Wynwood-based ice-cream shop collaborates with distributor Ice Cream Club to design custom flavors. Additionally, DJ SOS is no longer affiliated with the business.
Mr. Kream. 2400 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 786-659-4541 mrkreamwynwood.com. Monday through Thursday noon to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 1 a.m., Sunday noon to 9 p.m. The Mr. Kream Brickell pop-up, slated to open in August, will be located at 41 SE Fifth St., CU3. The Broward pop-up is still in the works.
