A new ice cream business is launching in Toronto next week, and they're already making an impression.
Michael Lam and Eric Chow, the minds behind the heavily sought-after Good Behaviour Ice Cream (GB), began the venture as a way to stay positive as the pandemic raged on. The two, previously regarded for bringing the renowned Ascari on King West to life in 2019, had seen first hand how it had impacted restaurants and the people in the industry. It was one of the many reasons that gravitated them towards an independent business.
Their decision to produce ice cream is built on childhood nostalgia and the overall joy that ice cream brings.
“We’re doing our best to try to stay positive,” says Lam, who is the Chef de Cuisine at Ascari King. “Eric likes to say this a lot, but who’s not happy when they’re in an ice cream shop or buying ice cream or eating ice cream?”
Good Behaviour slowly crept onto the scene earlier this month, rolling out their first available series through the wildly popular Sunny’s Chinese pop-up. Although, the planning, conceiving and execution of this small-batch, coveted pint of ice cream has been in the works for some time.
Eric Chow (left) and Michael Lam (right) previously worked together at Ascari on King before reconnecting for Good Behaviour.
Like many in the industry, Lam and Chow are taking the opportunity during this pandemic to pursue a project that represents their passion and life-long love for food.
Chow notes that a majority of the side-hustles and independent ventures are built on the chef’s childhood favourites or a symbolic family recipe.
“It’s been really beautiful to see people do something that interests them. I think a lot of chefs have returned to comfort food, or food that gave them comfort,” says Chow.
What they’ve also learned throughout the standstill in the industry is that in times of uncertainty and panic, the community has been overly encouraging to one another.
“Restaurants tend to be competitive, but in this expression of food and at-home cooking and small business pop-ups, it’s been incredibly supportive,” says Chow. “We really benefited from a group of people who were very generous with their time and with their resources and in making sure that we had a chance to succeed.”
Ice cream is a universal dessert option that can be found at nearly every corner of the globe. While already celebrated, Lam and Chow identified the potential to enhance the experience of enjoying ice cream as one of the most intriguing draws to the business. From a chef’s perspective, Lam envisions an ice cream that incorporates different layers of characteristics that make it stand out––an upscale, technique-forward take on the popular treat.
“Ice cream is almost an incomplete dessert,” says Lam. “A lot of times you go to a really good restaurant and ice cream tops off that dish, but why not have it the other way around?”
“We’re able to incorporate different components through texture, through flavour, through technique, to be able to elevate what that ice cream can be.”
Michael Lam experiments with production techniques, using two varieties of pots to determine which creates a better product.
Down the line, the duo plans to open their own brick-and-mortar location that will offer an array of flavours in classic ice cream vessels, like cones and cups. This is where Lam and Chow plan to fully execute their vision of enhancing the ice cream experience.
For now, GB is limited to their pints, which hinders their ability to “deliver a message or story or really any experience,” Lam says.
The joys of eating ice cream come down to its textural components, which is a quality of ice cream that Lam and Chow are looking to build upon.
“When you get a cone, you get a nice texture where it’s soft and crunchy. It makes that soft, creamy ice cream even more creamy because you’re challenging it with the cone,” says Lam.
He explains how GB wants to be able to replicate that textural experience in a way that excludes the actual cone. This is something they have already piloted in one of their flavours––the Torta Della Nonna pint they sold as a part of Shy Popups through the use of a packaged ‘crumble’ to top each spoonful.
Eric Chow tops a spoonful of ice cream with included 'crumble'.
Good Behaviour has produced three flavours that have been sold through different pop-up events––mainly Sunny’s and Shy. As they grow, the goal is to not only bring new and uncommon flavours to the forefront, but to also nail down the ice cream staples.
“If you look at your ice cream offerings as a portfolio, we wanted to make sure we were hitting all the different marks,” says Chow.
Flavours like ‘Moose Tracks’ or ‘Honey Nut Cereal’, which will be their flagship flavour upon launch, are meant to represent the classics and nostalgia category––but they are also looking to explore other, more adventurous options that involve ingredients that aren’t as common with ice cream.
To tackle this, they began with a creamy persimmon ice cream, a well-known but underrepresented fruit in the mainstream. Their Torta Della Nonna pushes their exploration further by incorporating more textural characteristics, with the use of the added crumble topping and fresh, roasted pine nuts that linger in your mouth every spoonful.
Three pints of Good Behaviour Ice Cream, including the Persimmon (peach) and Torta Della Nonna (green)
Their latest creation is a Hong Kong Milk Tea-inspired ice cream, which is their way of representing an ‘international’ category, previewing the creative and out-there flavours to come.
Lam says that ice cream is a clean slate, and that there is virtually nothing that can’t be ice cream.
“You can’t hide anything with ice cream,” he says. “You don’t need to be a snob or a niche or anything else to like ice cream. Everybody loves ice cream.”
Good Behaviour is slated to launch their online ordering platform on March 3 at noon through their website. Limited quantities will be available and pickups will be on March 6.
