Fly By Jing is serving a chili crunch ice cream sandwich in NYC

Traditionally, the best ice cream sandwiches in NYC are made of sweet stuff—melty scoops, sugary cookies or doughnut halves, caramel drizzle, the works. But a new version is giving the frozen dessert a surpringly spicy makeover. 

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Camari Mick (the Executive Pastry Chef at Michelin-starred The Musket Room and Raf’s) and Jing Gao (the founder of small-batch condiment brand Fly by Jing) have teamed up to create a special limited-edition ice cream sando: a pair of Sichuan honey cookies sandwiched with Chengdu Crunch-swirled smoked Tahitian ice cream. That not-so-basic vanilla ice cream is laced with the condiment brand's Chengdu-made chili crunch, which is loaded with funky stuff like Sichuan pepper, seaweed powder, shallots, garlic, mushroom powder, fava beans and a variety of seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin), making for a truly savory-sweet dessert experience.

The special-edition ice-cream sandwich will be available for $9 a pop all June long during the new garden happy hour at The Musket Room (265 Elizabeth St), held on Tuesdays through Fridays from 5pm to 6pm in the restaurant's bloom-filled backyard starting Tuesday, June 4. The treat will join other garden happy hour items including fresh shucked oysters, grilled skewers, and some new warm-weather cocktails, plus specials on by-the-glass wines. Reservations are available via Resy—just choose 5pm outdoors. 

And to celebrate the sandwich launch on June 4, the spice queen herself Jing Gao will also be on hand at The Musket Room's al fresco happy hour to sign her cookbook, the newly Jamed Beard-nominated The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp: Spicy Recipes and Stories from Fly By Jing's Kitchen, in case you want to concoct your own spicy-sweet creations at home!