Elite Event: Snowdays

While obviously a dry event, snow ice, shaved ice, snow cream, shaved snow and the like are exceptions to Elite events I appreciate attending. A blustery cold winter day did not dissuade able bodied Elites from coming out to West Village to celebrate the opening of Snowdays’ most recent opening on MLK day.
On what would normally be a closed day, outspoken owner & pitchmen for the company, Eric and Dewan did a great job of bringing us in with their story of where they are today in the whole competitive frozen treats’ space. A compelling story about community-​building, which is essential to making a retail brand last. This was an intimate event where we got to try some seasonal favorites as well as build our own yeti-​sized snow creation! I was very excited for this before and after I got there and it sure didn’t disappoint.
I tried the ‘Merica for the first time. A mix of strawberries, blueberries and Yeti tracks with the shaved ice. A definite thumbs up from my sweet tooth!
Thanks Ruggy/​Yelp NYC and Snowdays for putting this one together!

Sorry for the delay as I losy the pictures I took.
What a fun spin on the traditional ice cream. It was a totally new experience for me and if you are paying for an ice cream creation this is the way to go. I loved the mix of traditional and non traditional toppings including mochi and pocky and amazing shaved cream flavors like black sesame and matcha green tea. There were so many options I had trouble choosing. Nice to see fresh berries even in the dead of winter. It is a place I would take out of towners to show a new theatrical spin on dessert but probably limit it to the warmer months personally.
Overall brava on a fun evening and delicious and harty portions of shaved cream!

Sorry for the delay in writing this review, Unilocal World!
This event was truly the bomb dot com. Never been to Snowdays? Get your behind over there. We were there in 15 degree weather or something eating shaved ice. Why? Because it’s awesome.
This group of 20 or so met at the newish West Village establishment of Snowdays on MLK Day. Compared to the East Village location, this version of Snow Days includes some updated furniture, some updating colors, an updated menu board, and lots of seating. It’s a very cute and inviting space with subway tile.
Eric and Dewan told us all about the Snowdays story, the color scheme, menu, how it’s made, the calorie count (which is lower than I thought pre-​toppings!), and their expansion plans. My idiot self asked why they called it Snowdays. Rather than say «you are an idiot, it looks like snow» they gave a very nice answer. (Sorry, I am an idiot.)
We then got to make our own treats. I did the Yeti Tracks, which is actually just cookies and cream with some blue and put a host of toppings — some whipped cream, some pocky, some oreos, and of course some fruity pebbles (ultimate dessert topping, I promise you).
Thank you to Ruggy for organizing another bomb event. It was great to see Gina K again, and getting to meet Alexander W (and all his instagram followers), Elissa W, and Rachel W.
Overall, this event was fierce AF.

Thank you Snow Days for hosting a gathering in the west village! While shaved ice isn’t my first pick for dessert in January, I jumped at the chance to finally try this place after hearing good things about the east village location. This store on 7^th avenue and Waverly opened in August — it’s a cute, fresh space with enough seating to split a snack with friends.
I wanted to try two shaved ice flavors which requires a large or extra large cup. Since the ice itself isn’t too filling I took the plunge for the large and customized it with black sesame and coconut as my base. Both flavors were great with the depth of actual ice cream, much better than the weaksauce shaved ice I’ve had before in Flushing and K-​town. I heard the yeti tracks (cookies n cream) was basically vanilla and nothing special.
The toppings selection spans traditional Asian shaved ice stuff like grass jelly, mochi, red bean along with your pinkberry-​style granola, berries, chocolate, whipped cream and sliced fruit. Everything on the bar behind the counter was well stocked and looked delicious, no sad mushy strawberries here. With so much variety, there is potential to go crazy and make a less than stellar combo of flavors. Choose carefully! I was an especially big fan of the soft, fresh mochi and the matcha brownie. The friendly staff mentioned they’ll be updating the menu soon to only show seasonal fruit since a few things (mango) are currently out of season.
You’d be hard pressed to find a better shareable, delicious treat in the west village for less than $ 10. I’ll be back!

Snowdays!!! Shaved ice! this is awesome!

I admit I was a bit skeptical about an event that featured a frozen treat in January, especially since it had finally gotten cold, but eating shaved cream in the winter seemed oddly appropriate like when you were a kid and made «snow ice-​cream.» The blue and white décor, yeti painting, and snow twinkle lights reinforced this.
I had never had shaved cream before, but it was incredibly delicious. The Yeti Tracks had a blue color and was supposed to be cookies and cream. I couldn’t quite place its flavor but it was good and light. I especially liked the peanut butter syrup since it packed a bit more of a flavor punch than the shaved cream itself. The mochi and matcha brownies were also very good as topping. If I were to pick again, I might go with one of the featured creations, since everything I picked didn’t necessarily go together. While the cups seemed really large at first, the fluffy nature of the treat made them much more reasonable sized. I could see cup size prevent some first time customers from getting a larger size.
Overall, it was a great event. The absence of plus ones and the small space made it good to get to know fellow elites in a quiet setting. Thanks to everyone for a great event!

Another great event-​thank you Ruggy! I was excited to try Snowdays new West Village location because I consider myself a bit of an ice cream connoisseur and had yet to try the dessert creations I have been seeing on Instagram. After learning a bit about the background of the frozen dessert and the businesses origins from two of the owners, we were given the opportunity to try out their offerings. I got the regular size of yetitracks, which they described as tasting like cookies and cream. I’m not sure what it tasted like as the flavor was very subtle, but I didn’t detect any cookies and cream. The regular size was massive, and it felt like a big indulgence despite only being 250 calories or so!
My favorite aspect of Snowdays was the toppings. They had interested options like mochi, pocky, and macha as well as more typical fruit, nut, and cookie offerings that you’d find at a fro-​yo place. I loved the peanut butter drizzle, and was very tempted by some of the other options like condensed milk, blueberry compote, honey, etc.
My only hesitation with Snowdays is that is takes a while to get the final product. You put your order in at the register, and because of the nature of the way the ice is shaved, you can’t try any of the flavors. With unique flavors like sweet milk, toasted black sesame, and yeti tracks, it would have been nice to know what you were getting. Your order is then sent down the line to someone who crafts the dessert, which is why it ends up looking so great and not like the disasters I make myself at fro yo spots. If a big crowd came in, you would probably end up waiting longer than you want to actually get to eat your ice cream. I guess this is the typical New Yorker in my wanting everything immediately!
That being said, I loved that this was a smaller event as I got to meet some really interesting other Unilocal Elite members! By keeping it to only Elite’s and not plus ones, I felt like I got to meet a lot of people rather than just hang out with my guest. Shout out to Hamilton, Jessica, Jay, and Dione for keeping me entertained and eating copious amounts of ice cream with me. I would definitely return to Snowdays!

I can’t believe we each received a cup of shaved cream and it’s all «in the house». WHAT!!! I love snowdays and I was so glad that I am able to attend this event. It’s a small elite only event and it’s not too pack so I love it when I get to meet different elites.
I have already tried all of their flavors besides NY Cheesecake so I made myself a «strawberry cheesecake» with NY cheesecake flavor as a base, strawberries topping, some fruity pebble (because it reminds me of my childhood), almonds, and strawberry purée. I love how snow cream is light and I just learned that it doesn’t contains any eggs. That’s the difference between ice-​cream and snow cream. The coconut flavor is made with coconut milk. I guess that’s why the coconut flavor is so flavorful, sweet and thick.
This is one of my favorite small event where it doesn’t contain any alcohol and you get to enjoy some conversation with all the elites.
Thanks to Snowdays and Ruggy for organizing this.

The irony of having an ice cream day on what happened-​to-​be the coldest day yet of the season was not lost on anyone. But that’s what made it more fun! It was a cool group of people, some familiar faces and some new faces — but all were nice, friendly, and fun.
The hosts were excellent — did a great job explaining the short history of Snowdays, including their philosophy and calorie counts! What I noticed about this ice cream is that — as I predicted, it would be lighter than regular ice cream, but I didn’t realize just *how* much lighter — it’s very light! Also, it’s very dry ice cream. For the future, I’ll definitely get more liquid-​y toppings or fruits to balance the very dry ice cream. It was really good though and I would definitely return!
Thanks to Ruggy!

It’s never too cold for ice cream, or shaved cream, right? Despite it being freezing outside, I was looking forward to this event at Snowdays. I’d passed by their other location in the east village before, but I’d never been. I walked in tonight right around when the guys there were giving some background info on Snowdays and what exactly shaved cream is.
They have two other locations, east village and queens, and they are planning on two more for the future in Forest Hills and Brooklyn. They make these big round blocks of the cream, all dairy no water/​ice and they use a machine to shave it so it’s fluffy like snow. Then you get to pick your toppings for it. Once they were done talking about the business and shaved cream we lined up to get some for ourselves!
It was a little slow since they put the flavor you want in the machine and shave it, and then have to change it out for each one. There were only two people working there tonight, so hopefully they have a couple more people normally and I imagine they don’t have a whole bunch of people all come in at once. It was fine though, cause it gave me a chance to decide what I wanted. They had 6 flavors — Yetitracks, Roasted Black Sesame, NY Cheesecake, Sweet Milk, Green Tea Macha, and Coconut (Vegan) and a whole bunch of toppings and drizzles. They also had some suggested creations, or you could create your own. I created my own. I went with the Yetitracks, which was like cookies and cream, but also with some blueberry purée which gave it a nice baby blue color, and I topped it with poky sticks, marshmallows, rainbow sprinkles and some salted caramel drizzle on top. It was really good! The shaved cream was very fluffy and light. It didn’t have a strong taste, but that was good so it could go well with the toppings and not overpower it. It also came in a cute little cup with their yeti mascot and a spoon that changed color when it was cold!
Overall I really enjoyed Snowdays! The guys working there were very nice, informative, and happy to answer any questions we had. Shaved cream was not something I’d ever had before, but I definitely plan to go back! I’m not huge into green tea, but that Roasted Black Sesame flavor sounded interesting so I want to go back and try it. Also this was my second Unilocal event and it was nice to get to meet some more people! It’s always fun to meet new people and chat about food :)

«Life is short and unpredictable. Eat dessert first!» Helen Keller has taught me many life lessons and this quote of hers could not be more apt for the event tonight.
This is my first Unilocal Elite event this year (hoping there will be many more), and it was great to be part of an event that was Elite only, so I got to mingle with my Elite Unilocal buds intimately.
The staff on hand were great (only 2 guys helping us) and did a great job giving us some pertinent information about their store and their ice dessert. The first location opened up in Aug 2014 in the East Village (and with much success through grassroots social media promotion, their second location opened in Aug 2015 in Flushing (another success), and their current location opened in Aug 2015 in the heart of the West Village. This idea of shaved ice for their company originated out in LA and they brought the concept to the East Coast 3 years ago! They are planning to open a 4^th location in Forest Hills in Aug 2016 (shhh, I didn’t tell you).
This isn’t like the shaved ice dessert that is popular throughout all of East Asia and other parts of the world (Latin America). The ice blocks are made of low fat milk (milk sourced from local Hudson Valley) and with different flavors including green tea matcha, sweet milk and coconut (no dairy, made with coconut milk, all vegan). The texture is still very much like shaved ice, but much more creamy and sweet.
They have already a few signature selections, including ‘Merica, Made in Taiwan, Almond Joy, etc., but none really got my attention, so I made my own dessert creation. This is how it works: choose a size, choose a flavor of shaved ice, choose any flavors you like (50 cents/​topping as the staff told me dutifully when ringing up my order), and then drizzle with a sauce to your liking.
I opted for the vegan coconut shaved ice and perhaps I may have been the first person tonight who ordered because I waited awhile for it, but the staff apologized to me for the wait. I was told that because the vegan coconut flavor has no dairy and is made with coconut milk, it is more dense and takes longer to soften (so to place it in the shave machine). That was very thoughtful of them to tell me why I was waiting (the MTA could learn from these guys, telling people why they are waiting makes them much less frustrated) and I didn’t mind at all, I got to stare at all the yummy toppings available. My toppings were fresh bananas, Nilla wafers, mochi, almonds, and Pocky sticks.
I really enjoyed the dessert. It was quite hearty (like the Guinness of ice creams) and fulfilling. I will be back in the summer to enjoy this wonderful dessert and I’ll be sure to tell friends and family about how yummy it was in ma tummy!
I really really do like Elite only events. We don’t feel the need to entertain our +1s and we get to know each other more intimately. I learnt a lot about snowboarding, and that Financial District is no longer being referred to as «FiDi» (although this is debated), and a voracious Unilocal reader is attempting to read a book a week for 1 year, and also got invited to practice hot yoga with an OG Unilocaler, and got invited to a Donuts n DJ party in Brooklyn! Yea, to the wonderful Unilocal community that is so friendly, helpful and inviting. You didn’t know these people existed in NYC right? Well, get on the Elite Squad already!
And guess what? I met my goal of meeting 5 new Unilocalers at an event! «Ice Cream Social» and chatting with fun and savvy Unilocalers is probably one of the only ways you’ll get me out of the house when it is –4 Celsius outside!

The forecast for this YEE was flavored snow with a sprinkle of toppings and a drizzle of sauces. NYC hasn’t had (m)any snow days this winter due to abnormally high temperatures, but Snowdays is here to ensure that shaved cream will be available year round.
Watched over by a smiling Yeti, the staff elaborated on the history and future of this shaved ice company. Unilocalers were able to customize our order to personal preferences at this Elite-​only event. The Roasted Black Sesame is packed with a flurry of unique flavors. Although Elsa wasn’t here to give her frozen stamp of approval, this dessert is something I won’t let go. Thanks to Ruggy for another great event and I’ll be waiting for your future confirmation to build a snowman.

[So happy that this is my 500^th Unilocal review!]
I am a huge fan of shaved ice, and was thrilled when I found out there would be a Unilocal Elite Event at Snowdays. Specializing in shaved cream, or melt-​in-​your-​mouth fusion of shaved ice and ice cream, Snowdays serves addicting dessert that is both creamy and fluffy. They make shaved cream in small batches daily (no wonder it tastes so fresh!) with quality ingredients (i.e. organic dairy from New York’s Hudson Valley, real cream cheese, and hand-​roasted black sesame). Snowdays currently has three locations in New York (with expansions in Queens and Brooklyn forthcoming!) — East Village, Flushing, and the newest location in West Village, where the Unilocal Elite Event took place.
In addition to learning about the business, Unilocal Elites were treated to a full serving of Snowdays on the house. I couldn’t decide between Green Tea Matcha and Roasted Black Sesame, so I decided to get both. For toppings, I added mochi, strawberries, blueberries, matcha brownies, and rainbow sprinkles. The result of this concoction? A bowl of sweet heaven. You can also drizzle it with syrup/​sauce like condensed milk, salted caramel, or chocolate sauce. I also tried a spoonful of NY Cheesecake, Coconut (vegan), and Yetitrack (cookies n’ cream), and my favorite has to be Roasted Black Sesame because it had the most intense, strong flavor.
I also loved meeting other Elites at this event — it really showed that Elite Events are not just about eating free food, but more about fostering a community of like-​minded individuals who share the passion of Unilocaling :) I’m already looking forward to seeing these familiar faces again at the next Unilocal event.
Thank you Ruggy, Snowdays, and the Unilocal community for a great evening of delicious dessert, great conversation, and new friends. Oh! And also for helping me post a beautiful, Instagram-​able photo… follow me @JaneSeo14 :)

Brick city today! The only reason to venture out in zero wind chill weather is if you’re confirmed for a Unilocal elite event. featuring shaved cream no less!
Intimate event in the newest Snowdays location in the West Village. I did not know this spot was here until I saw this event on the calendar. The East Village location, which I’ve been to once, is always packed when I pass by so I wasn’t surprised to hear that they’re set to open yet another location later this year.
For tonight, we had a chance to make our own creation or choose from their favorites list. I decided on a slightly customized version of the GOT SEOUL — black sesame & green tea shaved cream w/​mochi, red bean, coconut, grass jelly and condensed milk. So good. Very generous with the toppings. The shaved cream has a pillowy, fluffy texture that is one of a kind. The black sesame really stole the show — the flavor is so distinct and yum. They roast the seeds in house!
It was wonderful to see new and familiar faces. First event of the year for me – success! Thank you UnilocalNYC and Snowdays!