The colorful vegan ice cream food truck has become a staple of the local food scene.
When Helen Williams first got her vegan ice cream business off the ground, it was just her rolling up on a Vespa scooter to sell five flavors of pints at Moxie Bread Co.’s Friday pizza nights. Soon after, the summer side business branched out to Vegan Night events before metamorphosing into the form it takes today, as the colorfully wrapped food truck that bookends the Boulder farmer’s market.
“It couldn’t be better than this,” Williams said of Best One Yet and its success. What started as a food blog capturing her kitchen adventures has become a staple of the local food scene. “I’m getting to make food that I want to eat.”
Vegan since 2009, Helen began experimenting with different milks and sugars in a home ice cream maker before landing on the satisfying coconut-milk and cane sugar concoction that has stuck. It’s a deceptively rich treat, with a smooth texture and consistency that matches dairy ice cream, albeit with a very slight hint of coconut. Though the menu has expanded to include nearly a dozen distinctly flavored scoops along with gluten-free cookies, shakes and the occasional pie, it rotates with each outing according to what’s in season.
Drawing on whatever local produce she can acquire in abundance from farmers at the market has connected Williams to the community in a unique way. One week, she might swirl in cherries or raspberries to create time-limited batches without preservatives. “Including that stuff in our ice cream feels like a no-brainer,” she said. “I want fresh peach ice cream, and that’s what the customers want, too. When we’re at a farmer’s market and we’re selling ice cream that has peaches from the farmer who is right across from us, people love that story.”
“I have always cared about organic, local food, and I’ve always loved knowing the farmers who grow our food. It’s such a gift to get to look your farmers in the face and know their names and how hard they’re working to make this thing that we can easily take for granted,” Williams said.
That also means no flavors are a given, if hail, pests, or other meteorological events wipe out a year’s crops. Still, she does offer consistency in the form of familiar flavors like vanilla or mint-chocolate chip. Or she might add crumbles of gluten-free cookies and nuts to create standard bearers like cookie dough or Rocky Road ice creams.
Whatever the flavor, Helen and her ice cream have landed a loyal fan base, including people who return to the truck for a scoop even after moving away from Boulder itself.
“It’s so heartwarming to see so many faces we recognize,” she said. “That’s what I look forward to the most — being a part of someone’s life like they are a part of mine.”
Joined this year by a team of nine employees, Best One Yet has expanded to Denver, selling ice cream sandwiches at the Saturday market. And Bestie, as the refurbished postal truck has been nicknamed, will often pop up at events, including the Vegan Nights in Boulder and Denver, and dish out ice cream at birthdays, weddings and other private parties.
Thanks to her success as a start-up, Williams also offers support and a platform to other vegan food truck owners as one-half of Indoor Cat Events, the coordinating team behind the annual Veg Fest, held this year in Denver on June 8 and September 28. “I always want to see more vegan food businesses,” she said. “And starting up is not easy. It’s a natural way to give back.”
Though ice cream season’s only just gotten started, Best One Yet’s already got the wheels rolling. The best way to know where she’ll be is to follow Best One Yet on socials like Instagram, where you can also see the occasional update letting you know when the weather’s too wet for a cone.
