Two Bay to Bay Boulevard businesses are teaming up this weekend to help Tampa residents celebrate their love of ice cream — with an interesting twist. Joe and Son’s Olive Oils and The Dessert Spot at Toffee to Go will be offering samples of ice cream topped with aged balsamic vinegar on Saturday, July 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Customers will also receive coupons for each business and 15 percent off all balsamic vinegars at Joe and Son’s.
While you’d be forgiven for thinking balsamic vinegar on ice cream sounds odd, Joe and Son’s are asking people to reconsider that notion, saying, “The fruity tartness of the balsamic is the perfect complement to the creamy sweetness of the ice cream.” Customers will be able to choose from flavors such as peach, raspberry, dark cherry, fig, tangerine, espresso, and even chocolate, served over vanilla ice cream supplied by The Dessert Spot.
All of the balsamic vinegars at Joe and Son’s Olive Oils are imported from Modena, Italy, and are aged a minimum of 12 years. To create the vinegar, sweet white Trebbiano grape pressings are boiled down to dark syrup, which is placed into oaken kegs to age. Over time, the vinegar graduates to smaller and smaller kegs of different woods until it’s ready. The vinegar is then naturally infused with fruit, herbs, or spices to flavor it.
The other half of this partnership, Toffee to Go, has spent 15 years crafting buttery custom toffee for customers nationwide and now offers visitors the opportunity to stay and enjoy. The Dessert Spot, located inside the Toffee to Go building, features desserts from their in-house pastry chef as well as 12 flavors of Working Cow Ice Cream – three of which are made with Toffee to Go exclusively for this location.
President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month in 1984, and these two Tampa business are surely taking advantage of the holiday. Here’s what you need to know if you’re looking to stop by:
Joe and Son’s Olive Oils
3204 W. Bay to Bay Blvd. | (813) 831-5600 | joeandsonsoliveoils.com
Toffee to Go and The Dessert Spot
3251 W. Bay to Bay Blvd. | (813) 605-0655 | toffeetogo.com
