- April 19, 2024
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Galactic Freeze opens in Palm Coast
It tastes like regular ice cream, because it is regular ice cream — except it's frozen within seconds before customers' eyes. Galactic Freeze opened its doors in Palm Coast Nov. 3, after six months of selling its liquid nitrogen-frozen ice cream from a trailer.
“We wanted to test the market here before we opened,” said Donald Stevens, who owns Galactic Freeze with his wife, Kelly Stevens. The couple took their trailer to soccer tournaments, lacrosse tournaments and any festivals they could during their first six months in town.
“The kids love it,” Donald Stevens said. “They keep asking us when we’re going to open a shop.”
Here’s how liquid nitrogen-frozen ice cream works: The Stevens start with a basic vanilla liquid ice cream mix. Customers can pick any three toppings they wish to mix in with it, from hot fudge and pieces of Butterfinger candy bars to marshmallows and bubble gum or an assortment of fruit flavors.
After the toppings are mixed in, the Stevens zap their mixture with liquid nitrogen. It’s nontoxic, odorless, and colorless — and, at a temperature of negative 320 degrees, it freezes the mixture almost instantly.
Donald Stevens disappears behind a cloud of smoke as he zaps his mixtures with the liquid nitrogen. The result: A bowl of ice cream that looks much like any other.
Aside from the theatrics of Galactic Freeze’s preparation method, their topping system limits their ice cream flavors only to how many combinations customers can make.
And so far, the Stevens have seen some strange flavor combinations, the weirdest being mint, Butterfinger pieces and bubblegum.
“Here, if that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll make,” Donald Stevens said. “I didn’t really understand that one, but (the customer) liked it, and that’s what counts.”
Liquid nitrogen ice cream is popular in the Orlando area. The Stevens used to live in Kissimme, Fla., and that’s where they first encountered the trend.
“Once we decided to move to Palm Coast, knowing they didn’t have (liquid nitrogen ice cream) here, we knew that was what we wanted to do,” Kelly Stevens said.
They moved here in May, and began selling ice cream from their trailer almost immediately.
Galactic Freeze is at 227A St. Joe’s Plaza Drive in Palm Coast. It’s open 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Call 443-2054.
Beachside Bakery closes
The Beachside Bakery, which opened in Flagler Beach in April, announced it was closing permanently Oct. 26.
Owners James and Joni Triplett made the announcement on their restaurant’s Facebook page, thanking the community for the support they received in their months of business.
“We realized that the time and energy that it takes to keep the bakery operating is taking away from our family life,” the page said.
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