The lobster ice cream should be your first clue Pinky’s Ice Cream Stand in Cortlandt Manor is not your average ice cream shop.
The small batch stand, which opened Aug. 9, also features Toasted Marshmallow (think more campfire than s’mores), Shio Strawberry (with locally made Shio miso), Black Coffee (brewed with a decaf blend from Peekskill Coffee House) and Sweet Corn and Blueberry (made from fresh Jersey sweet corn).
Customers can expect 12 flavors, with the majority changing monthly and adapting to the seasons. Five core ones, including vanilla, chocolate, brown butter pecan, Shio strawberry and Toasted Marshmallow, will stay the same, though there’s a possibility they’ll also keep Rainbow Cookie.
That’s because Pinky’s, owned by Matt Mancuso, Stephen Bond, and Travis Westervelt, treats ice cream much like a chef approaches a restaurant meal — with thought, intention, and careful consideration given to every ingredient and flavor profile.
The endeavor, which began in 2022, is the brainchild of Mancuso, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who majored in baking and pastry. For 21 years he’s been in kitchens, much of that at Michelin-starred restaurants including Per Se, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Bouchon Bakery, Corton, and Le Bernardin. Those kitchens taught him the value of discipline, precision, restraint, and, perhaps most importantly, getting every last detail just right.
It’s why Mancuso, who’s the founder, chef and sole ice cream maker, relies on local ingredients as much as possible and sources dairy from Kingston-based Hudson Valley Fresh. Another point of difference: His playful approach to experimentation.
“We like to get weird,” said Mancuso. “We call ourselves ‘udderly unique’ because you’ll see lobster ice cream on our menu or sweet corn and blueberry.” The lobster, by the way, is made the way one would create lobster bisque. The savory flavor, which Mancuso calls “seafood punchy” is made by steeping the lobster shells into the milk and cream. It also features melted butter flavor and Old Bay seasoning. He’ll be serving it this weekend topped with caviar “to stir up the senses.” (As any FYI, there’s only one tub so once it’s gone, it’s gone.)
Next month he’s considering adding sourdough ice cream with brown butter fried sourdough croutons with salted caramel as well as fire roasted peach and blue cheese which, he said, “tastes like a cheese board on crack.”
“It’s a little smokey with flecks of frozen blue cheese folded into the ice cream for a nice, sweet bite and then —boom — the blue cheese hits.”
Matt’s journey to ice cream
Mancuso, who still works as a private chef, recipe developer and content creator, never planned to open an ice cream shop. But then, he said, life never goes exactly as you think. As someone with a “huge sweet tooth,” he got depressed during the pandemic with the amount of ice cream availability. So, he decided to make his own.
It took 24 batches — and his wife’s discerning palate (she’s a very tough critic,” said Mancuso) — until he landed on what’s now the recipes for Pinky’s. Mostly, he had fun. “I think ice cream is very unique because when you infuse random flavors with fat, it’s the best acceptance you can have, making it the perfect vehicle for so many different things.” (His favorite, by the way, is Toasted Marshmallow which was the second thing he mastered after perfecting vanilla.)
After friends and family raved over the ice cream, he started selling via pre-order pick-ups, a bit like a sneaker drop. That took off quickly, so much so that he segued to pop-ups and events, including, in 2023, a birthday party he catered for Martha Stewart. That party, where he met fellow chefs David Bouley and David Burke, led to an eventual collaboration with Burke where he sold Pinky’s ice cream in Burke’s Manhattan restaurants in 2025. Prior to that, in 2024, he sold to a handful of mom and pop markets.
Thanks to his social media accounts, there’s also been lots of Pinky’s buzz. (As a content creator, he’s a pro at spinning stories and creating the perfect pic.)
So when friends Bond and Westervelt heard about a vacant ice cream stand, they immediately thought of Mancuso who said the deal, from signed lease to opening day, took just six weeks. “The whole thing just fell in my lap,” he said.
Funnily enough, the stand, which dates to the 1980s, began as an ice cream venture for the milk processing plant that once occupied what’s now a shopping center. It was later sold to Carvel which operated it for many years before closing, eventually becoming The Daily Moo’s, and then MJay’s.
For Mancuso, who never thought about doing a stand let alone being an ice cream owner and maker, said the journey to Pinky’s started with one question: “What makes the perfect scoop?”
That question ultimately became more than a starting point — it became the philosophy behind the shop. It’s why he’s so intentional with everything he does, drawing on inspiration culled from his restaurant training, childhood memories, travels and simply being in the Lower Hudson Valley. The stand, as he writes on his website, has become his take on fine dining — serious craft and thoughtful flavors, served with a little less ceremony and a lot more sprinkles.
If you go
Address: 3535 Crompond Road, Cortlandt Manor, pinkysicecream.com
Hours: 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday.
Good to know: Flavors change monthly with specials that Mancuso will makes one tub of. He also tries to offer/rotate dairy-free and vegan options.
Year-round (ish) news: The stand will be open mid-March to December.
It’s dog-friendly: There are pup cups offered with non-sweetened whipped cream and peanut-butter dog treats. There’s also shaded seating in the back.
Got food news?
Email JRMuchnick@gannett.com with details of restaurant openings or closings near you. And, if you want more intel on Lower Hudson Valley dining and entertainment, sign up for my free weekly newsletter, which often includes behind-the-scenes info I don’t always share in my stories at profile.lohud.com/newsletters/manage.
Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @jeannemuchnick or via the lohudfood newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Chef opens small batch ice cream stand in Westchester. Get the scoop
Reporting by Jeanne Muchnick, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jeanne Muchnick, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
