Coolhaus, Los Angeles - Ask a Shopkeeper

by Chris Dudley, Posted Feb 25th 2010 @ 11:00AM

Photo: Coolhaus

Natasha Case has worked in some of L.A.'s most prestigious architecture and design offices. She's also been a Walt Disney Imagineer. Fortunately for SoCal foodies, Natasha has traded in her drafting boards and graphing paper for baking sheets and ice-cream makers. She and her business partner, Freya Estreller, are the two "Principal Farchitects" for Coolhaus -- a pimped-out, find-us-on-Twitter truck that offers a variety of architecturally-inspired ice-cream sandwiches. Their menu is full of treats with names that are puns on terms from the world of design -- you can order the Frank Behry, strawberry ice cream pressed between two sugar cookies, for example.

We caught up with Natasha to get the lowdown on Coolhaus and the future of Farchitecture.

More from Natasha Case, Principal Farchitect of Coolhaus, after the jump.

"Coolhaus is just the first project under our Farchitecture umbrella. It's shorthand for food + architecture. The goal with Farchitecture is to explore the various ways design can enhance the eating experience. The possibilities are sort of endless; we're thinking about things like edible estates -- housing with communal gardens that residents can live off of. But for now, it's ice cream.

I've been working on Coolhaus since last April, but I've only been full-time since July 2009. My work is kind of free-flow; I'm sort of always working on Coolhaus, so there's really no start or stop times. There's also no location. We're nowhere and everywhere, wherever there's a parking space. That brings me to my least favorite part of the job -- definitely parallel parking.

Our truck is a renovated 1984 postal Jeep complete with pink top, fold-down counter, chrome rims and a Ghetto Blaster, '80s-style boom box. I like to bump old-school music as I serve customers and try to think of new flavors and puns to go along with them. We bought the truck off Craigslist then had it completely redone. We're hoping to get a couple more trucks out there. We're looking at Coolhaus New York and Coolhaus San Francisco.

Our typical customer is an adventure-seeking, open-minded foodie aged 18 to 50. 'Mintimalism' -- the chocolate cookie with dirty mint-chip ice cream -- is our most popular item. It's my personal favorite, too. All Coolhaus ice-cream sandwiches are homemade with all-natural ice cream (featuring local and organic ingredients when possible), scooped between two freshly baked cookies. They're served in edible wrapping made out of rice paper and printed with soy-based ink. We're interested in exploring the relationships between food, design, waste and sustainability. We want to start doing edible, sugar-based spoons. Also Popsicles shaped like skyscrapers or famous buildings -- that's where Farchitecture's headed.

A customer once told me, 'I'm glad someone is doing something with their architecture degree.' I'm pretty sure they weren't kidding... It was hilarious!"

Filed Under: Trends, Interviews, Features
Tags: coolhaus, featured, food truck, ice cream sandwiches, ice cream truck, los angeles, street food

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-25-2010 @5:21PM cassandra's mom said... It's the last week of Girl Scout cookies and, if you're like me, the boxes of Thin Mints are looooonnng gone.

Check out this locator & find more cookies!

http://www.k103.com/main.html
Reply