The Brown Butter with Salted Caramel Pecans is one of the latest additions to the Chef Series Ice Cream line, and was created by Jonathan Sundstrom of Lark, Bitter Raw, Slab Sandwiches and Off The Record.

We’ve always admired John’s restaurants, and respected his food so much so that our owner Jody Hall and wife Kelly named their little girl Lark.  Lark has always been a special place for the both of them, as well as the rest of the team at Cupcake Royale.  His cookbook adorns most of our bookshelves, and it serves as a Pacific Northwest flavors bible for us and many others in our city.

John trained at New England Culinary Institute, in Montpelier, Vermont. He also apprenticed for four years to chef Yasuyuki Shigarami, classically trained in Japanese cuisine and sushi. His history and career have included some of the country’s finest resort hotels, including; the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, Club XIX (Lodge at Pebble Beach) and Stein Ericksen Lodge.

In Seattle, John worked at Raison d’etre cafe, Campagne, and Café Sport, beginning his education into Northwest farmers and foragers. He was Chef de Cuisine at Dahlia Lounge, working closely with owner Tom Douglas and developing the restaurant to one of national prominence. In 1999, John spent several weeks in Japan, exploring, tasting and researching Japanese food and culture. In October and November of that year, he also went on a working tour of some of New York and San Francisco’s finest kitchens, a sort of “Culinary Graduate School”.  From the Dahlia Lounge’s Pacific Rim to a stint at Carmelita, a vegetarian Mediterranean restaurant, John began to invest in organic, foraged, and heirloom ingredients and flavors. In 2000, he happily reintroduced fish and meat to his repertoire when he took over at Earth & Ocean, and within six months John was named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs for 2001. In the three years that John was chef at Earth & Ocean, the restaurant thrived.  John has been featured on the Food Network’s “Best of“ Show as well as ”Food Nation”. Also John was featured in the PBS original series “Chefs-a-field”, which was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2003.  John was named “Best Chef Northwest” by the James Beard Foundation in 2007, following nominations in 2005 and 2006.  John opened Lark in 2003 on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, with his wife, JM Enos and partner Kelly Ronan. Lark is an artisan-focused restaurant serving dinner.

We are honored to be able to work with such a great person and Chef.  Our Chef Series line was created to be able to make high-end ice cream with creative and delicious flavors outside of a restaurant.  It is now available for the people!  Our customers are over-the-moon happy with the delightful results of our Chef Series ice cream, and we are too.