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Steve Spahn new ice cream cereal bar, Blue Yeti, at the southwest food court entrance to the Smith Haven Mall, serves up classic sugary breakfast cereal injected into and/or served atop vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream.
Customers pick their ice cream flavors, choose from nearly 20 cereal options including Lucky Charms, Reese’s Puffs and Fruity Pebbles, add toppings like fruits and candies and top it all off with a drizzled sauce.
Blue Yeti also has a list of predetermined options, including the Camp Fire and the Cookie Monster, which Spahn says are his two most popular selections, especially for those looking to share a pair of sweet treats on a date night.
The Camp Fire is vanilla ice cream injected with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, topped with Oreo’s and brownie bites and completed with a marshmallow drizzle.
“It’s an absolutely delicious combination, the Oreo and the cinnamon toast crunch,” Spahn, 26, of Setauket, said. “It’s kind of like a smore when you combine the two. It’s my personal favorite.”
The Cookie Monster features vanilla and chocolate ice cream swirled together with Cookie Crisp, topped with cookie crunchies and a Chip’s Ahoy cookie, plus a chocolate drizzle.
“I would suggest everybody for their first time do those two,” Spahn said. “It’s a delicious combination, everybody always loves them. 100 percent of the time I give those two ice creams to a couple, they come back.”
leaving the Milky Way
Frequent mall-goers may wonder what happened to the Milky Ways Ice Cream Cereal Bar that opened this past May in the same location as Blue Yeti.
Spahn was a franchisee who operated that Milky Ways location, but decided to leave the franchise that originated in Coram in 2019 for his own venture.
“We just wanted to make a name for ourselves,” Spahn said of him and a partner who formed Blue Yeti.
“We’re young business owners, 25 and 26, and we’re blessed for it to have gone so smooth. We decided to break away because we wanted to incorporate other things into the menu.”
The most notable new addition at Blue Yeti: protein shakes.
A frequent weight lifter with a culinary background, Spahn knew how to throw together a good smoothie. Now, he rotates through various brands of protein mixers to serve them up to clients. Blue Yeti offers vegan, fat free and whey proteins that can be made with various milks, fruits and flavors. Spahn recommends mixing raspberry with banana and mango with coconut.
He also offers a 20% discount to any members of Crunch Fitness who pop in his shop.
Blue Yeti also serves up bubble cones, a circular, fluffier, chewier alternative to the traditional thin, hexagonal waffle cone.
Although the Blue Yeti branch is in its infancy, Spahn said it can mature into a recognizable name beyond the Smith Haven Mall. “We want to try over the next year or two to expand to another one or two locations.”
