Kosher Cholov Yisroel Ice Cream Truck Opens in LA

Nothing inspires joy like the chirpy music from an ice cream truck on a sweltering summer day. This mobile beacon of happiness brings with it refreshing, sweet treats that appeal to all ages. 

And now everybody can enjoy kosher ice cream on-the-go, thanks to La Creme Dairy’s kosher ice cream truck, which serves Cholov Yisroel ice cream in La Brea, Pico-Robertson and the Valley. 

The truck offers soft serve vanilla, chocolate and swirl, along with toppings including rainbow sprinkles. Also on the menu are pareve bars, like watermelon sorbet and ice cream bars, such as strawberry, caramel swirl and vanilla dipped in chocolate. 

“Ice cream is something most people like,” owner Chaim Fyzakov said. “And it makes people really happy.”

Chaim and his wife Mariasha started La Creme Dairy three years ago, when they noticed the need for local, fresh, Cholov Yisroel milk in the Los Angeles area. They are currently between locations for their dairy and creamery, so starting a Cholov Yisroel ice cream truck made sense. 

“We were driving in the car with our kids, and my [7-year-old] daughter was like, ‘You should drive an ice cream truck,’” Mariasha Fyzakov told the Journal. “And we’re like, ‘That’s not a bad idea.’”

Chaim added, “We were doing milk, iced cappuccino, heavy cream, all the different fluid milks. Now we are taking the fluid milk and turning it into frozen milk that tastes good.”

Mariasha manages things behind the scenes, and Chaim drives the truck.

The joy for the Fyzakovs is giving observant children the experience of buying treats from an ice cream truck.

Cholov Yisroel, which literally means Jewish milk, is milk held to a higher kosher standard. According to Chaim, a rabbi on site makes sure the milk is coming from a healthy cow, that it’s being processed on kosher equipment and there are no non-kosher ingredients. 

“The same thing applies to ice cream,” he said.“We want to make sure all the ingredients that we use for this are up to standards. It’s kosherized.”

Chaim grew up in Denver, and the ice cream truck would always come on Saturday, during Shabbos. Then, after Chaim became Cholov Yisroel, the truck started coming during the weekdays. And he still couldn’t enjoy ice cream.

“Maybe, deep down, I wanted to do this is because it’s something I didn’t have as a child.” – Chaim Fyzakov

“Maybe, deep down, I wanted to do this is because it’s something I didn’t have as a child,” he said. 

“For the Orthodox Jewish community that keeps Cholov Yisroel, seeing an ice cream truck drive around your area and you can’t ever buy from it, there’s always disappointment,” Mariasha said. 

Thrilled to give this experience to their kids and other families, she brings their children (ages 7, 4 and 2) to the truck nearly every day. 

Ice cream lovers can find La Creme’s location through their WhatsApp status, Instagram (@la_creme_dairy) or the good old-fashioned phone (619-386-6027); customers message them, and they send back a flyer.

“Every day we’re somewhere else,” Mariasha said. “We make our schedule depending on where the events [like camps or birthday parties] are. We will then find a location close by, like a street corner. So if the camp’s in Pico, then we will stay in Pico.” 

The Fyzakovs started the truck in June and plan to continue for the rest of the summer; they like the idea that it’s something special for this time of year. They serve an estimated 300 to 500 people every day.

“A lot of people think they are just for kids, but I have 70-year-olds coming in for extra sprinkles,” Chaim said.

Mariasha got a call the other day, inquiring about prices for an event. “I asked how many kids. They said, ‘No kids. Actually, we’re an old age home.’”

Chaim thinks there’s maybe a “sprinkling” (pun intended) of other Jewish communities around North America that have Cholov Yisroel ice cream trucks, so it’s a novel thing.

“LA being the second biggest city in America and probably right after New York in terms of Jewish population, I thought it would be fitting to do it,” he said. “And I also get non-Jews who come up to the truck.”

“It makes me feel like we’re doing something good,” Mariasha said. “We’ve got people waiting for us and texting us and really wanting more.”