This might be the prettiest ice cream cone in all of Denver

A fish is popping heads in downtown Denver.

Coated on the within with Nutella, the fish-shaped waffle cone, full with scales and fins, chomps down on a heaping cup of strawberry- and matcha-flavored mushy serve. Wedged subsequent to it’s a inexperienced matcha macaroon and two Pocky sticks, which can as properly signify fishing rods used for the large catch. The entire thing is gorgeous sufficient to go viral on Instagram or TikTok.

You will discover the creation at Ichigo Matcha, a Japanese dessert and drink stand that opened at 1351 sixteenth St. Mall final yr. “Ichigo” means “strawberry” in Japanese, whereas matcha, a inexperienced tea grown primarily in Japan, has change into more and more standard over the previous few years in the USA as a flavoring for all types of desserts.

On TikTok, whose userbase consists primarily of adolescents and younger adults, a number of influencers have posted movies of Ichigo Matcha’s mushy serve, every garnering 1000’s of likes.

Ichigo Matcha founder Emma Lkhagvajav opened a second location this month contained in the North Classroom Constructing on the Auraria Campus — house to the College of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver and the Group Faculty of Denver — simply in time for the autumn semester.

Whereas the cafe is lower than a mile from the unique stand, it’s solely open to college students, lecturers and others with campus passes. (Many of the buildings on campus can solely be entered with ID badges as of October 2023, when the Auraria Campus grew to become a “secure campus”, its web site says.)

Within the close to future, the campus location will take cell orders and permit the general public to choose them up from designated spots, stated Alyssa Nilemo, Auraria’s deputy chief activation officer. Lkhagvajav, who didn’t reply to questions in search of remark, plans to open one other enterprise on campus as properly, Mimi Bubble Tea, contained in the Administrative Constructing this semester, Nilemo added. (That store can even promote drinks for pickup outdoors the constructing.)

The agreements with Ichigo Matcha and Mimi Bubble Tea are on par with Auraria’s objectives to enhance the meals choice on campus, as acknowledged in its announcement of the partnership with Lkhagvajav earlier this month. Within the assertion, Auraria Campus CEO Colleen Walker stated she and different campus leaders had been on the lookout for choices “that replicate the variety, power, and evolving tastes of our scholar physique and neighborhood.”

Kotomi Higashii-Picott, of Parker, and Naomi Aspnes, a global finance scholar at Auraria, visited the sixteenth Road kiosk lately after seeing one of many movies on TikTok. They ordered a strawberry-and-matcha swirl with a fish cone ($8.50).

“Fish cone!” the seller shouted from the stand window with the deal with in hand.

The matcha combine tasted just like the precise factor — candy however with a clean, balanced earthiness — which isn’t straightforward to seek out, stated Higashii-Picott, whose mom is from Japan.

Neither is the mushy waffle cone, molded within the form of a carp, recognized in Japan as “taiyaki,” Aspnes stated. Ichigo Matcha’s taiyaki was mushy, virtually plush-like, with a mischievously candy style in and out. (A video on Ichigo Matcha’s Instagram account exhibits staff baking taiyaki with business tabletop machines.)

Presentation is a vital matter in Japan, stated Higashii-Picott, sporting a furry cap with animal ears and a black Whats up Kitty sweatshirt. In that respect, with its lettering, menu gadgets and decorations, the 2 associates felt Ichigo Matcha additionally did the tradition justice.

“It’s probably not frequent in Colorado, however it was my favourite after I was a child,” stated Aspnes. “It was good lastly having it once more.”