Loving Cup Opening in Hayes Valley, with Ice Cream

The stretch of Hayes between Franklin and Octavia could easily be renamed Dessert Row, what with the ice-cream shop, bakery, macaron shop, bread-pudding shop, confectioner, and chocolatier that occupy its two blocks. Now, another sweet vendor is arriving to the area: Loving Cup, the rice-pudding and frozen-yogurt purveyor that's been a hit in Russian Hill since 2008. Owner Liz Fiedler has taken over the space that formerly housed Taste Tea House, and is renovating it into a new location that, in a first for the burgeoning chain, will also serve housemade organic ice cream and sorbet.

Fiedler plans to make her ice cream on-premises at the Hayes location, where it'll be available by the scoop in handmade cones, to-go in hand-packed pints, or as an ice-cream sandwich with freshly baked cookies. She's particularly excited to offer strong non-dairy and vegan options: "We want to bring them out of the background," she says. Some of the flavors she's working on include huckleberry-lime sorbet, dark chocolate ice cream with brown-butter caramel swirl, vegan roasted banana ice cream (made with cashew milk), and Dawn Patrol, a surfer-inspired vanilla ice cream flecked with bittersweet chocolate and Verve coffee beans.

The plan is for the Hayes location to have 20 seats, nearly double the size of the other Loving Cup, with a handful of two-tops and larger communal tables designed for birthday parties. It's currently scheduled to open on April 15th. Loving Cup is also making its way into wine country: Fiedler has secured a location in Healdsburg, which she can only disclose is "part of a new project being built right now, just off the main square." The opening date is currently targeted for October.

· Loving Cup [Official website]