Sweet dreams are made of tofu – Sōfu Gelato churns up a storm in The City
A new gelato craze has just arrived in Brisbane – it’s silky, creamy and made with tofu. Sōfu Gelato has just opened on Edward Street and dessert lovers are lining up to give it a try. Serving Asian-inspired flavours like black sesame, oolong milk tea and pandan coconut alongside ceremonial-grade matcha and invigorating affogatos, Sōfu Gelato is giving the humble scoop a sweet makeover.
It takes something pretty special to get Brisbaneites queuing up. But if there’s one thing that is guaranteed to convince residents of our line-averse city to stand in single file, it’s likely a sweet treat.
Last weekend, a lengthy line was spotted snaking its way from the entrance to Sōfu Gelato – the brand-new silken tofu gelato store on Edward Street.
From its soft-opening launch on Thursday to when we visited on Tuesday, the queue has rarely abated. Such is the frenzy that Sōfu, one of the first stores of its kind in Australia, has whipped (or should it be churned?) up here in Brisbane.
“Everything’s been crazy – we definitely underestimated the crowd,” says Sōfu co-owner Sharon Sia. “When we opened on Thursday, there was a line out the door. We had to open a little bit later on Friday just to stock up because we just didn’t expect Thursday to be that busy.”
Sharon and her husband Albert first encountered silken tofu gelato on their travels through Asia, sampling the dessert in Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. Though self-confessed sweet tooths, the couple fell head over heels for the silken tofu gelato primarily because it wasn’t as sweet as its more common dairy-based counterpart.
“We both love gelato – we love desserts after dinner, but we don’t like really sweet desserts,” says Sharon. “The gelato we’ve had here, we tend to feel really sick after a few spoonfuls.”
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After moving from Brisbane to Ireland last year, Albert decided to instigate a career change, exchanging his corporate gig in favour of kick-starting a business of his own. Silken tofu gelato seemed like the perfect avenue, considering its relative scarcity Down Under.
“It’s really popular in Asia right now, but I guess it’s still not known to a lot of customers in Australia,” says Sharon.
“We thought it would be so good if we could bring this into Brisbane – it’s always Sydney or Melbourne that gets the cool things.”
Safe to say, Brisbane has embraced Sōfu’s brand of gelato with open arms. The store itself, located next door to Golden Avenue, draws inspiration from the various cafes Sharon and Albert frequented in Korea, employing a minimal palette of neutral tones and warm timbers to create an inviting atmosphere.
Naturally, much of the attention will be drawn to Sōfu’s gelato display. Though there’s a prep area out back, most of the gelato-creation process is actually done in front of the customers inside the storage and display counter itself.
“The machines that we use are quite new,” explains Sharon. “It blast-freezes the gelato, churns it and then it acts as a display cabinet for the customers. It churns every few minutes and then we scoop it directly from the machine.”
Currently, Sōfu’s menu is confined to seven core flavours, all inspired by Asian desserts or tea shops. The delicate nature of the silken tofu acts as a foundation for other flavours, harmonising and blending with real ingredients like oolong tea leaves, sweet corn, pandan leaves, purple sweet potato and black sesame.
Scoops are served in ergonomically designed cups or in house-made black sesame- and thyme-flavoured cones. Affogatos are available, too – simply pair any scoop with a shot of espresso or matcha.
“We have had these ideas for flavours way before we started our R&D process for the gelato,” says Sharon, hinting that seasonal flavours will also appear on the menu soon. “These are Asian dessert flavours – the flavours that my husband and I grew up with when we were little.”
Beyond gelato, Sōfu serves matcha lattes and earl grey matcha lattes, as well as a specialty beverage range dubbed Sōfu’s Cloud Forecast. These drinks, named after common weather forecasts, include the likes of the Partly Cloudy (espresso, sweet corn puree and a cloud of sweet corn-infused cold foam), Morning Mist (ceremonial matcha with a signature tofu kinako cloud) and the Clear Sky (matcha, butterfly pea and salted-maple cloud).
As evidenced by the ever-present queue, Sōfu’s silken tofu gelato has clearly struck a chord with fellow dessert die-hards. Despite being a relatively unknown commodity in Brisbane, Sharon says feedback on Sōfu’s offering has been overwhelmingly positive.
“A lot of customers we’ve spoken to, they’ve actually never tried this product before,” says Sharon. “It has attracted people from different cultures, different ethnicities and different nationalities.
“It has really taken us by surprise how accepting everyone’s been.”
Sōfu Gelato is now open to the public – head to The Directory for more information.
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