Sue Raben and her husband, Charles Raben, are working with herbs and flowers: mini shiso, Thai basil, marigolds. All of it for ice cream.
It’s a sweet story (sorry).
The couple met in high school, at an after school program at The Rubin Museum for Himalayan and Tibetan Art. A year ago, they decided to start a business together. She, a tattoo artist and baker, and he, a chef—used their backgrounds, and the above ingredients, to create Little Rat, specializing in homemade ice cream.
The business came about because Sue, a huge ice cream fan, noted— from Cafe Panna to Van Leeuwen—a dearth of hearty, real-deal ice cream around town. “I felt like some flavors were a little too muted. After having two licks, it tasted like cream and sugar and no longer like the flavor that I ordered,” says Sue.
Currently sold at Spring Bar in Chinatown and Rodeo bar in Crown Heights, the Rabens’ original yet nuanced take on ice cream flavors have made them a buzzy presence at pop-ups throughout the city. “We did 17 pop-ups last summer,” says Charles. “We did Frog Wine Bar, Rhodora Wine Bar’s block party, Time Again.” Little Rat also served their ice cream an event with Adidas Y3 during New York Fashion Week.
Over the past few weeks, you could catch them at events at the intersection of the design, dining, and beverage worlds, with Kelsey Malone’s Busted Ceramics at Spring Bar (“We sold out of our first flavor in like the first 45 minutes,” says Charles) and at the launch of the Libi Project’s magazine at Hudson Wilder in Dumbo. In August, they’ll be joining Chakriya Un of Bong and selling their ice cream at the Honcho Capmout in Pennsylvania.
Charles and Sue themselves are the draw of Little Rat—and their personal approach. “For each pop-up, I like to create a whole new set of flavors based off of the space, with seasonal ingredients,” says Charles. “The whole philosophy is to not use any gums or fillers in the ice cream,” says Sue. “We only use whole milk, heavy cream, sugar. Whatever herbs or fruits—like if we’re making a jam—I’ll make that from scratch.”
Charles attended the The French Culinary Institute (now called International Culinary Center) in SoHo, but considers his greater education working with private chefs. His approach to ice cream extends from his approach to cooking—to work with the world’s flavors through the framework of his classic French training. “I’m born and raised here,” he says. “Just because I’m German and Jewish-Dominican doesn’t mean I can’t use Thai basil. It doesn’t mean I can’t use adobo. So I pull from every cuisine.”
In the years before Little Rat, Charles would ask Sue to help with the private dinners he was throwing. “He would hire me to help him with the dessert aspect, because it’s not his strongest suit,” she says (Sue had developed a small business making cakes during the COVID-19 pandemic). “And I love ice cream. It’s one of my favorite desserts.”
Making their own ice cream, they decided on milk base instead of custard for safety (hauling around a product made with raw eggs during the hot summer is asking for trouble), but also for the flavor profile. “We started with a French-style custard, but it actually doesn’t work well,” says Charles. “For instance, we did a sour cream and strawberry jam, and all of a sudden there was this really gross, iron taste. But when we did it Philadelphia style—with just the cream and the milk—it tasted delicious.”
Little Rat’s ice cream flavors run the gamut, from sweet to savory to herbaceous to umami: Yuzu Mango; Marigold Olive Oil; Burnt Apricot, Shiso Green Apple; Pink Peppercorn; Goat Milk; Fennel; Purple Carrot; Saffron; Fried Sweet Plantain. At the Hudson Wilder event, Blueberry Chamomile and Banana Hojicha were among the selections. Which isn’t to say the profile always has to be exotic. They’ll do a chocolate. “Chocolate is remarkably one of the most difficult flavors to get right, because a lot of it tastes very powdery,” says Sue.
For sourcing of fruit, veg, and herbs, they seek out their friends Melody and Aja at Monday for Wednesday, who call themselves “Baldor’s Gen Z cousin.” “They focus on connecting underrepresented chefs and farmers,” says Charles. On July 19, they’re doing a pop-up with their suppliers at Dépanneur in Williamsburg, where Monday for Wednesday will sell herbs and Queens Perennial will supply flowers. Next summer, they are looking for a brick-and-mortar location for Little Rat in Ridgewood, their neighborhood.
“We’ve been here for the last seven years. We love the area. It feels like a village, cozy and connected,” says Charles, “and I think we have value to add.” The concept will be Little Rat Ice Cream Bar, emphasis on the word “bar,” because they plan to serve spirits along with their ice cream. Neither of the partners have experience in beverage, so Charles was mulling the idea of taking some bartending shifts when the summer closes.
Sounds like a plan, with only one question remaining: Why “Little Rat”? “It used to be my nickname,” says Sue. A college friend gave it to her and it stuck, even becoming her Instagram handle for a time. “I was like, ‘Wow, that’s so fitting’, because I’m short and small, and I’m also Year of the Rat. I’m from New York,” she says. “It just made sense.”
