The life-size sprinkle pool you dove into two years ago is coming home with you this week.
The Museum of Ice Cream, the O.G. of food-themed exhibitions engineered for your Instagram feed, returns to New York City on June 6 with a grocery store selling its own line of ice cream (including a Sprinkle Pool flavor) and inviting shoppers to pitch a new addition.
The Pint Shop — “an interactive grocery shopping destination” featuring immersive installations, a reservation-only tasting experience, a series of weekly workshops and seven branded ice cream flavors through the end of August — opens its storefront on the border of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. The news was first reported by WSJ Magazine.
Founders Maryellis Bunn and Manish Vora established the first Museum of Ice Cream near the Whitney Museum in 2016. With a huge pool of fake sprinkles, an ice cream sandwich-shaped swing and other interactive elements, the pop-up stirred up unprecedented hype and launched a swarm of copycats.
But the original museum, which has since visited four other U.S. cities and currently operates in San Francisco, outsourced the ice cream samples it served visitors, from local shops like Black Tap and OddFellows.
Now it has introduced its own line of seven flavors with cheeky names like Sprinkle Pool (vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles), Vanillionaire (vanilla with wafer cookies and Nana Banana — banana ice cream with salted caramel and almond butter swirls).
At the museum’s new storefront on West 14th Street, the pints appear in the form of free samples, frozen merchandise and replicas standing at more than nine feet tall. (The Cherrylicious facsimile contains a pool of fake cherries, a preview of the space revealed Tuesday.) As of July 8, five of the flavors also will be available at most Target stores across the country, retailing for $4.99 a pint.
The Museum of Ice Cream’s new grocery store, which is free and open to the public, will offer a $28 tasting room experience “involving an in-depth look at the components of ice cream in addition to featuring our seven signature ice cream flavors,” according to the website. Participants will use eye droppers to add extracts, like vanilla from Tahiti and Madagascar, to test tubes filled with a dairy base.
On Thursdays starting June 14, the shop will host interactive workshops led by employees and social media influencers. “Pint Sessions” will cover subjects such as designing the Museum’s next flavor, making your own stop-motion GIFs and crafting ice cream-themed accessories.
The Pint Shop opens for three months at 459 W. 14th St. The expected hours of operation are Wednesdays through Mondays from noon to 9 p.m.
