Billy Van Creamy Brunswick

Billy Van Creamy was born in the summer of 2015. Initially brothers Alex and Mitch Wells sold scoops from a whitewashed truck, before moving into a space in Fitzroy North.

This new flagship store, on Sydney Road, is the slickest yet. The building and facade date back to Federation, but inside the cool, mint-coloured walls and glossy white tiling speak to the purity and simplicity of the product.

This ice-cream (not gelato) is made with just four ingredients: Schultz Organic Dairy milk, Saint David’s Dairy cream, cane sugar and free-range egg yolks. This base could be flavoured with vanilla beans, house-made honeycomb, or mint and milk chocolate. Vegan flavours, made with coconut milk in place of dairy, include the likes of 72 per cent dark chocolate, salted caramel and peanut-butter choc-chip.

As these flavours let on, Billy Van Creamy is more classic and refined than experimental or extravagant. But it brings a fun, nostalgic edge with its ice-cream sandwiches (made with gluten-free brownie cookies and your choice of flavour), excellent milkshakes and sundaes. Unusually for an ice creamery or gelataria, it also serves good coffee. There’s iced coffee, hot filter and cold filter, all made with beans from Everyday Coffee.