We All Scream

Sketch Ice Cream Reopens Today in Berkeley After Three-Year Hiatus

Sketch's signature soft-serve.
Sketch’s signature soft-serve. Photo: Courtesy of Sketch

Back in June we told you of the return of Sketch Ice Cream, the well loved Berkeley ice creamery that closed three years ago on Fourth Street because the couple behind it wanted to focus on raising their newborn daughter. Well, now that daughter Audrey is turning three, owners Eric Shelton and Ruthie Planas-Shelton decided to give it another go, and they landed a space at the other end of Fourth Street at Addison, in the new Fourth and University condo complex there. They reopen today, as Berkeleyside reports, serving their signature, low-fat, full-flavored soft-serve, starting with five flavors: vanilla, burnt caramel, Sightglass coffee, Earl Gray tea, and a seasonal fruit like apricot or roasted plum.

Also they’ll be serving breakfast stuff and baked goods like olive-oil cake, lavender shortbread, and chocolate pudding cake; and savory items like sandwiches and empanadas. And in keeping with their family-first ethos, they’ll be keeping some slightly odd hours during the week (7:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Monday through Friday, with a half-hour closure at 10 a.m. for a staff meal), and they’ll be open 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

As for why they only do soft-serve, former Aqua pastry chef Shelton explains:

[It’s] not for novelty reasons [but] for consistency’s sake. It keeps the ice cream at the right temperature, anything too cold and it freezes the palate. And if there’s too much fat it coats the tongue and that affects the taste too. We make our ice cream with low fat, very little air, and just the right temperature. We make our own ice cream base from scratch. We use Straus milk and local, seasonal fruit.

Sketch Ice Cream - 2080 4th Street at Addison - Open Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Sundays.

Sketch Ice Cream Reopens Today in Berkeley After Three-Year Hiatus