Show 185, August 20, 2016: Chef Warren Schwartz, Magpies Softserve, Silver Lake

Warren ScwartzWarren Schwartz is a prominent fine-dining chef. Foodies probably know him best for his long tenure as the Executive Chef of the landmark Saddle Peak Lodge in Malibu Canyon. He was also at The Viceroy in Santa Monica. His new venture is Magpies Softserve in Silverlake in partnership with his wife, Rose, an accomplished pastry chef.

“Magpies Softserve is a scratch recipe soft serve dessert shop. We make our soft serve mix and all toppings in house. We wanted to expand the flavors of typical soft serve ice cream from the traditional vanilla and chocolate by creating flavors of soft serve that bring us back to our childhood, flavors that inspired us to become chefs.”

“We love ice cream. Opening a dessert shop has always been a dream of ours. This idea came to us while we were on a family vacation in Palm Desert, when for nostalgia sake, we decided to go into a Dairy Queen. As we were licking our cone, we came up with the idea at the same time. “Let’s do a chef-y Dairy Queen” and the idea was born. We would have all-scratch soft serve recipes with life inspired flavors and we would make all toppings in-house. We would create flavors that we grew up with and represent us.”

Rose is Korean American, born and raised in South Florida, and Warren is a true Valley Californian. Between the two of us, we came up with flavors that can really tell a story. From a Horchata (non dairy), to a Cortadito, a sweetened Cuban espresso to Yuzu Honey, a traditional Korean tea that is unique to the American palate. We had a lot of fun creating flavors that are authentic to us.”