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Hello, Eaters! Let’s indulge our sweet tooth and check out Wanyen, a new Asian-inspired ice cream shop at 378 W. 300 South in Salt Lake City.
Wanyen, which opened in May, joins other excellent Asian-influenced dessert shops in the city, like Doki Doki and Chubby Baker.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Wanyen, an Asian ice cream shop that opened recently across the street from Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.
Owner Jade Ganrayanapoj came to Utah from Thailand about 13 years ago. After she graduated from Weber State University, she started working in tech, but it wasn’t long before she realized it wasn’t her passion, she said.
Ganrayanapoj had discovered she loved making ice cream, after a successful experiment making matcha ice cream at home.
So, as Ganrayanapoj continued to work full time in tech, she turned ice cream into a side hustle, she said, selling her creations at farmers markets and the Utah Asian Festival. But as customers continually asked her where they could get more of her ice cream, she realized it was time to open her own shop.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jade Ganrayanapoj at Wanyen, an Asian ice cream shop that opened recently across the street from Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.
It took about a year to find the right location — a former boba tea spot in The Olive apartment complex, across the street from Pioneer Park — and after a month of renovation, Ganrayanapoj launched Wanyen, which has a double meaning of “shaved ice” and “sweet and cold” in Thai.
The flavors you’ll find in Ganrayanapoj’s ice cream case are definitely unlike those you’d get in a typical ice cream shop. At Wanyen, you can order scoops flavored with ube (purple yam from the Philippines), Thai tea, peach oolong, milk powder imported from Japan, black sesame, coconut and the vibrant green matcha that started it all.
In a separate freezer, Wanyen even stocks durian ice cream, flavored with the spiky tropical fruit that’s so smelly it’s banned on public transport in some Asian countries. (The smell reminded me of cat pee, and the taste was a weird combo of onions and fruitiness — to each their own.)
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Thai Tea Ice Cream Float & Grass Jelly at Wanyen, an Asian ice cream shop that opened recently across the street from Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.
Ganrayanapoj and her team make all their ice cream in-house, in small batches, and with real fruit, without any artificial sweeteners, she said.
They even make their own ice cream cones (pictured above), in flavors like pandan (Asian vanilla), charcoal and ube, plus chocolate and vanilla.
The menu also features desserts like the decadent caramel butter toast, Thai tea ice cream float with grass jelly (pictured above), strawberry ice cream parfait and banana ice cream split. There’s also a variety of drinks like the Butterfly Citrus Fizz (honey lemon soda), the Americano Tangerine Dream (an Americano layered over orange juice), Pink Milk (a blend of sala syrup and milk), the Young Coconut Pudding Frappe and more.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Wanyen, an Asian ice cream shop that opened recently across the street from Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.
To read about my favorite thing I tried at Wanyen, scroll down to the “Dish of the Week” section of this newsletter.
Now that Wanyen has its sign up, Ganrayanapoj said she’d like to have an official grand opening. For updates, follow Wanyen on Instagram at @wanyen.slc.
Wanyen is open Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from noon to 10 p.m.; and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. Wanyen is closed on Mondays.
Live deliciously,
Kolbie
Food News
• The Utah State Fair kicks off Thursday and goes through Sept. 14, and there are two fair food events that you shouldn’t miss: the Unbottled Ice Cream Festival on Monday from 3 to 7 p.m., and the Utah Cattlemen’s Beef Feast on Friday, Sept. 12, at 11 a.m. Both events will be held in the Market Building. For the ice cream festival, attendees can partake in locally made ice cream for $5. For the beef feast, grillmasters will be cooking up beef tenderloin steak sandwiches for $15, and will keep grilling until they run out. Grab a drink for $2, and remember: It’s cash only.
Openings:
• Chicken Boy Fried Chicken had its grand opening last weekend and is now open in Provo, at 1195 N. Canyon Road, according to Instagram. Chicken Boy, which got its start as a food truck, will be serving gluten-free fried chicken tenders and fries.
• A new Wendy’s location is opening this weekend in Roy at 5654 S. 1900 West, according to a news release.
Closings:
• Bow Tie Creamery closed both of its ice cream shops (in Sugar House and Ogden) on Aug. 30, according to an Instagram post. “Thank you for supporting us, cheering us on, and making Bow Tie what it is,” the post said.
Booze (and Drink!) News
• Three businesses received liquor licenses during the Aug. 28 meeting of the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services’ liquor commission, including a much-anticipated bar opening on 900 South in Salt Lake City. Neighbors Bar — which is being built in the Milk Block development— is part-owned by Chase Worthen, who owns The Pearl bar in the Central Ninth neighborhood.
Dish of the Week
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mango sticky rice plate with mango sticky rice cream at Wanyen, an Asian ice cream shop that opened recently across the street from Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.
At Wanyen, one of the most popular menu items is the mango sticky rice ice cream plate ($10.95), which comes with sliced mango, sticky rice and a scoop of ice cream. But now that Wanyen has released a mango sticky rice flavored ice cream, you can get mango sticky rice in two different forms on the same plate.
The whole dessert is vegan, with the creamy richness coming from coconut milk. The mango sticky rice ice cream is actually two ice creams swirled together: a mango sorbet, and a coconut-based ice cream infused with pandan.
This dish was just so elegant, and a delight to eat, with different textures and flavors playing off one another perfectly.