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The Old and the New at Hypnotic Emporium

An Elvis flavor pays homage to one of Hypnotic’s signature donuts.
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Rarely do I go to Denton without stopping at Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream for a scoop of Bees Knees, lavender and honey in a glass coupe, a lovely shade of mauve. The sentimental side of me likes the fact that this has, until now, remained a Denton-specific pleasure: old-fashioned ice cream in the shadow of the historic courthouse. Still, I was tickled when I learned they’d be serving Beth Marie’s ice cream at Hypnotic Emporium, the new soda fountain from the owners of Hypnotic Donuts, whose psychedelically funky sister shop is just next door.

When I stopped in on a whim last week, they hadn’t finished turning the space into something vibrant and vintage soda-fountain-y, though the walls are lined with multi-colored retro candies and they’re already dishing out scoops (the official opening isn’t till Wednesday, March 1). Here’s what I love already.

I love that, as at Beth Marie’s, you can get just exactly as much ice cream as you wish. Ask for a gold-ball size or a catcher’s mitt glob—price is determined by weight. To me, this is part of the Candyland whimsy. It means I can indulge a caprice, sidle up to the counter by myself if I must. (In my perfect world, Bees Knees pairs up with Honey Whiskey, but sometimes you want just a smidgen of Campfire ‘Smores, too.)

The connections to the sister store are subtle, though one is the donut ice cream sandwich, cool ice cream pressed between the pillowy halves of a split doughnut for something that emerges from its contraption, a round Panini press perfectly shaped for a doughnut, looking like a hot-cold, caramel-sauce-drizzled, saucer-shaped promise of sweetness. There’s also the reassurance that a banana split will have vanilla and strawberry and chocolate. And butterscotch sauce? Chopped peanuts? Yes, says the kid behind the counter, who’s wearing the bowtie and paper hat of a classic soda jerk. The classic banana split. (I made a mental note to return for an egg cream — not easy to find outside the Highland Park Soda Fountain and the phenomenal versions at Remedy.)

An Elvis flavor pays homage to one of Hypnotic’s signature donuts. And perhaps you’ve had the frosted animal cracker creation sporting sprinkles and mini-marshmallows next door? Apparently Beth Marie’s is working their magic on that as an ice cream flavor as well.

I’ll probably always remain loyal to the Bees Knees. But, I love knowing that, in the spirit of a good old fashioned ice cream parlor, classics like Cookies and Cream will be good too. And they’ll chop up that handful of chocolate-covered peanuts you scooped from one of the candy jars against the wall.

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