Eugene Chun had thought about serving ice cream or frozen yogurt when he first opened Connecticut Sandwich Co. on Pine Street in October 2013—but two things stopped him.
First, the 2007 Wilton High School graduate couldn’t figure out just where to put an ice cream machine in this clean, brightly lit space. He also felt that the local market was saturated with froyo outlets (this was before Red Mango on Elm Street closed).
“There are just so many options in New Canaan that I wanted to bring something new,” Chun said.
And he is.
CT Sandwich Co. owner Eugene Chun is bringing Korean frozen treat ‘bingsu’ to New Canaan. Credit: Michael Dinan
On Monday, Chun will begin creating on-site a popular Korean dessert called ‘bingsu’ (see video above)—whose bottom, base layer is a water-and-sweetened-milk mixture that’s produced with the consistency of powdery snow, topped with ‘mochi’ (sweet, chewy—almost gummy—Korean rice cakes), fresh fruit, a scoop of ice cream and cereal (Fruity Pebbles is a popular option in Thailand).
“It’s really meant to be shared, and they have it in every coffee shop and café in Korea—literally, every one. I think only place that doesn’t have it there is Starbucks,” Chun said on a recent morning. “They come in huge bowls, and over there it’s meant to be shared by three or four people. But I understand around here you can’t share a giant thing like that, so we’ll put it into 16-ounce cups and let people just mix it and eat it.”
It’ll cost $7, and the early signs are that it’s going to be a big hit.
Chun ordered a pair of machines from Korea to make the bingsu and began giving out samples on a trial basis two weeks ago. The French Culinary Institute-trained chef—who already has carved out a niche in New Canaan with popular blended juice drinks and made NewCanaanite.com’s lists of top breakfast sandwiches as well as lunch sandwiches—appears to have a winner.
“We did our classic flavoring: Fruity Pebbles, blueberries, strawberries and mochi,” he said. “Our regular customers loved it. People came back and got it for their kids.”