Eis Cafe, a new food truck specializing in German-style gourmet ice cream and coffee, will make its debut at the Gilbert Feastival from 5:30-9 p.m. Friday.
The weekly food truck roundup takes place in the Sam’s Club parking lot on the northeast corner of Gilbert and Houston (halfway between Baseline and Guadalupe).
Eis Cafe is the brainchild of Merlin Ward, who closed his Wartega Brewing in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2018 and moved to the Valley with plans to open another brewery.
Instead, he and his mother, Maria, are venturing into ice cream.
“As a kid, my mother and I would frequent ice cream cafes in our hometown near Köln, Germany,” Ward says. “We’d enjoy huge, ornate desserts with fruit, and chocolate, and whipped cream. They were beautiful, and that’s the experience we want to create with Eis Café.”
Signature desserts include the Choco Loco – chocolate, vanilla and Nutella ice creams with brownies, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream, Ferrero Rocher, and pocky sticks.
The family-run food truck also will offer espresso drinks like cappuccinos, lattes, and a German specialty it calls “Venezia,” a drink made with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, cold brew, and whipped cream.
