Chopped nuts. Chopped chocolate. Chopped marshmallows. Without this holy trinity of additives, or at least two of the three, a tub of rocky road isn’t rocky at all. It’s just a chocolate ice cream cul-de-sac at that point.
The four cornerstones—chocolate ice cream marks the fourth—of rocky road are present in Orcutt Ice Cream Kitchen’s personal spin on the popular flavor as well. But this version of rocky road is known as Orcutt Trails, named after some of Orcutt’s rockiest paths.
Gioia Woo, who founded Orcutt Ice Cream Kitchen during the fall of 2023, described the inspiration behind some of her creative confections as “rooted in our Orcutt community.”
Orcutt Trails is just one of those flavors, so locals who aren’t nuts about nuts need not order it in the name of town spirit, as long as options like the Orcutt Cowz cookies ’n’ cream and similar Orcutt odes stay on the small-batch ice cream shop’s menu.
Many of Orcutt Ice Cream Kitchen’s flavors are named after people as well, including but not limited to Woo’s friends, family members, favorite celebrities, and movie characters.
“There’s so much nostalgia in ice cream, so it was important to me that the names have meaning,” Woo said. “I’ll often share the stories behind our flavors on our Instagram account.”
Following Orcutt Ice Cream Kitchen on social media is also the best way to find the company’s whereabouts, Woo explained, as the business is completely mobile and hosts pop-ups at various spots in Old Town Orcutt.
“You’ll never find us in one place; we’re always sprinkling,” said Woo, whose company’s motto is #SprinkleJoy. “Outside of our pop-ups, we offer delivery sales and custom orders for parties, barbecues, and corporate events.
“Our dream one day is to have a brick-and-mortar. However, to start, we are focused on our mobile presence as we get up and running,” added Woo, who enjoyed making ice cream from scratch in her home kitchen before deciding to expand her hobby into a business earlier this year.
Woo said she’d always dreamed of owning her own business someday, but it wasn’t quite clear what kind of business she wanted to pursue, until recently.
“I grew up surrounded by family friends and bosses who were successful female entrepreneurs and, from a young age, I admired them deeply for their passion and dedicated work,” said Woo, who grew up in a small town in New York.
Thanks to her East Coast upbringing, her earliest memories of ice cream are tied to Friendly’s restaurants. At an early age, she fell in love with the chain’s Reese’s Pieces sundae, which helped nurture her all-time go-to ice cream preference regardless of brand or venue: “anything with peanut butter.”
When Woo first started dabbling in crafting homemade ice cream as an adult, “the motivation for me to keep going was the reaction I’d get from friends and family to my flavors,” she explained.
“I loved seeing the joy on their faces, and I think they loved being my taste testers,” Woo said. “It was in these moments that I knew I had something special and wanted to share it with our amazing Orcutt community.”
She’s since moved Orcutt Ice Cream Kitchen’s production a long way from her home kitchen in Orcutt—it’s now produced at a facility in San Luis Obispo County using milk sourced by Cal Poly’s dairy.
Woo said she enjoys maintaining local connections and networks with other local small business owners as often as possible. She recently attended her first meeting of the Old Orcutt Merchants’ Association as a new member.
“It was refreshing to see such a passionate group of people dedicated to continuously improving our small town, and I’m excited to be part of those meetings going forward,” Woo said. “Orcutt is so community driven, and there are so many incredible and successful entrepreneurs in this town.”
As for her upcoming ice cream pop-ups in Orcutt, Woo has one more event slated before the end of the year, at the Naughty Oak Brewing Company on Dec. 29.
“We look forward to the start of a new year with the goal of expanding our flavors,” Woo said, “and helping our community keep their freezers stocked throughout 2024.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood is screaming for ice cream. Send your favorite toppings to [email protected].
