The windows of 74 Maple Ave. may have been papered over, but that still did not deter curious minds from walking up to Victoria Young’s door. 

For weeks, hopefuls were looking to get their first taste of Vic’s Craft Ice Cream, the Bristol resident’s from-scratch, artisan scoop shop that focuses on quality ingredients and bold flavors. 

Ice cream fanatics have to wait no more; beginning this Wednesday, May 15, Vic’s is officially ready and open for business, welcoming her new Barrington community with open arms. 

Discovering her passion

Though making ice cream has evolved into Ms. Young’s passion project, there was a time where her future looked very differently. 

A student at Rutgers University, Ms. Young was well on her way to earning a degree in psychology and pre-med when, suddenly, things began to change. Almost inexplicably, she started spending less time in the classroom and spending more of it in her kitchen, making chocolates or baking cakes instead of doing homework or studying. 

“I realized that maybe my passion wasn’t where I thought it was,” she said. 

Acting on that intuition, Ms. Young decided to spend the following summer working in a little bakery back at home in New York. It was just the experience she needed to confirm what her heart was telling her, and that fall she enrolled at Johnson and Wales University in their Baking and Pastry Arts program. 

Though she began school with the expectation of owning her own bakery upon graduation, Ms. Young was introduced to entirely new worlds of the industry throughout her courses of study. Fine dining in particular took hold, and Ms. Young was able to secure two coveted internships during her time at JWU—one at Café Boulud in New York City, followed by Noma in Copenhagen. 

It was while in Denmark that Ms. Young discovered that, while she enjoyed the art behind fine dining, it was not going to be the career path for her.   

“I loved it, but there are people who love it so much that they don’t care if they give up everything else for it. Those are the people who deserve to be there,” she said. 

It was a jarring realization for Ms. Young to have so close to the end of her time at JWU. Feeling unsure of what to do next, she simply returned back to school, back to her job at Stock Culinary Goods in Providence, and hoped some answers would soon reveal themselves next. 

The age of Fountain 

As it would turn out, that course of action would pay off for Ms. Young in the months following graduation. While working at Stock, she suddenly began connecting with people from all throughout the food scene in Providence as she additionally was helping to coordinate pop-up events. 

During that time, Ms. Young had purchased her first ice cream machine in preparation for an event she was catering. She had a little exposure to making frozen desserts while in school, but now she was experimenting all the time, having fun coming up with new recipes and ideas to try. There were no rules; she acted on whatever she was inspired by at any given time, whether it was people, places, events. The base she made from scratch (something those “homemade” brands do not do), either jazzing it up with only the highest-quality extras—from herbs and fresh fruits to coffees and teas—or simply leaving it alone. 

“There was no pressure; I was just doing it as a hobby,” she said. 

That hobby, however, quickly transformed into Ms. Young’s newest business plan. With help from PVDonuts’ Paul Kettelle, she founded Fountain & Co., a traveling ice cream cart featuring Ms. Young’s hand-crafted flavors. They spent the summer of 2017 planning; though securing the necessary licensing and approvals was tricky—Fountain was neither a truck nor a storefront, a category all its own—by that October, they were ready for their first event at Stock. 

Within three hours, she had sold out of everything. Said Ms. Young:

“It was the catalyst to make me want to work harder for it.”

A rebirth

Since that day, the popularity of Fountain only continued to grow. Ms. Young continued to appear regularly at Stock, and her weekends quickly filled pop-up events. Eventually she began introducing pints to-go. Yet despite the early success, she knew that, deep down, Fountain was not heading in the direction she had always intended for it to go. Too often, she found herself playing it safe with her flavors, fearing a negative reception of her eccentric ideas. 

“I scanned over the list and was like, what have I been doing?” she said. 

This past March, Ms. Young parted ways with her Fountain partners; the same month, she signed a lease for the building on Maple Avenue. She rebranded as Vic’s, shifting her focus on fun instead of chasing the idea of perfection. Those who have been following her from the beginning could notice the change just from her social media posts alone; Vic’s photos were brighter, messier, joyfully in the moment—a representation, Ms. Young said, of how eating ice cream should be. 

“It’s like a new life, a rebirth,” she said. 

Whether people were familiar with Fountain or just getting to know Vic’s, Ms. Young is excited to welcome everybody through her door. Offering upwards of 16 different flavors at any given time, Ms. Young is hoping to catch customers from all over the spectrum, from the plain and simple to the different and unique. From there, they will have the option to add all the fixings (including her personal favorite, a Nilla wafer streusel), or craft pastries a la mode. Whether her frozen treats are enjoyed inside the shop, outside on the patio or on the go, Ms. Young hopes that Vic’s will become Barrington’s latest neighborhood hangout. 

“I really want to make Vic’s a staple in the community,” she said. 

Though she is looking forward to growing her roots along the East Bay, Ms. Young plans to keep Vic’s open at her spot in Stock. To those customers, she has to thank their support and encouragement along the way. 

“They can get ice cream anywhere and the fact that they come back to me…I know I must be doing something right when I see their faces every week.”