Written by Jordan Michelman.
The field of affogato is ripe for innovation, consideration, even…disruption. Down in Los Angeles, an interesting model has emerged, in which two companies with some shared ownership—one in the field of vegan ice cream, the other serving contemporary coffee—have joined forces to create an utterly culinary take on the modern affogato.
Michael Lowe is is the operations manager at Awan, an Indonesian-inspired vegan ice cream company based in LA, with locations in West Hollywood, Venice, and on Melrose Avenue in Larchmont. They specialize in flavors like gula jawa—a kind of raw sugar caramel—and strawberry made from the cult Gaviota varietal. One of the company’s co-founders is Tohm Ifergan, who also started Dayglow Coffee, and the two businesses share a footprint in the form of separate-but-adjacent retail spaces.
This creates a truly unrivaled opportunity for best-in-class affogato service. A high-end coffee bar working with Modbar units, and a progressive, seasonal ice cream company right alongside, waiting to scoop Balinese vanilla or pineapple pandan and pour delicious espresso over the top. To learn more, I had a chance to speak with Michael Lowe from Los Angeles.
Hey Michael — really glad to speak with you. Tell me a little bit about how you guys are approaching affogatos at Awan.
My background is in pastry and chocolate, and I started working with Awan around a year ago, helping them with operations. Affogato is a really unique part of what we do at Awan, and all three of our locations are attached to Dayglow in Venice, West Hollywood, and Larchmont.
When you order an affogato from us, our baseline is to scoop Balinese vanilla, and then physically take it over to one of the baristas on the bar at Dayglow, so they can pull a shot from one of their Modbar units. We’re walking it over, and then guests can enjoy their affogato anywhere in the shared space between our two businesses.
If vanilla is the base choice, can I switch things up and pair your other flavors with espresso?
Absolutely. Sometimes pairings can go really well with the different espressos they’re running at Dayglow. And if someone wants to try a different flavor and match up that espresso flavor profile, then we’re happy to scoop them anything from our menu to try.
Awan’s menu generally features around ten scoops. There’s a core collection, which always includes vanilla, strawberry, chocolate Oreo, and the gulut jaya, which is sort of like a burnt caramel. We also always have a Dayglow Coffee flavored ice cream, which is, in my opinion, the best coffee ice cream you can buy. And then we also have a seasonal collection of flavors that change every 3 months or so—right now it includes flavors like soursop mango, blue yuzu, sesame, and pineapple pandan.
Tell me more about the coffee ice cream flavor—have you seen people pair this up with espresso for a super-coffee affogato?
Yes! Actually, the last time I was in one of our shops before this call, I saw someone trying out this exact thing. We pull like 30-40 shots of espresso for each batch of that ice cream, and it’s really extraordinary. It’s my biggest love on the menu, and paired together with espresso actually works quite well.
But I do believe that the vanilla ice cream we make offers the best blank canvas. It offers a nice balance with the espresso, and our take on vanilla is really rich and unctuous, so there’s an incredible combination there. But we don’t limit our customers; they can make an affogato out of any flavor they like.
This really seems like a best of both worlds situation.
Yeah, I agree. I do find that usually at a restaurant, it’s like — you know — most restaurants don’t do a very good coffee program, famously. Coffee at restaurants is usually just okay. And so when you get an affogato at a restaurant, the shot might not be pulled properly, and it’s not going to jell that well. And meanwhile, the ice cream might not even be made in-house, depending on which restaurant you go to. I can tell you that with our approach, you’re getting a huge hit of coffee flavor, and that both the espresso and the ice cream are being treated with care.
Awan has three locations in Los Angeles. Visit their official website for flavors and follow them on Instagram for more information.
