06-29-2023 Howard Magazine - Flipbook - Page 36
Best restaurants
Standing outside of the Charmery ice cream shop in Columbia is owner Laura Alima, left, and store manager Ashlyn Park. PHOTO BY KEVIN RICHARDSON
Best Frozen Treats
The Charmery
6000 Merriweather Drive, #185B, Columbia,
443-546-3359, thecharmery.com
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| Summer 2023 | howardmagazine.com
One day about 10 years ago, David Alima
pulled an old ice cream maker from his kitchen
cupboard and began experimenting.
“It’s very hard to mess up ice cream,” he said.
“Even the worst ice cream I made was still delicious.”
And thus The Charmery was born. The first
location in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood opened in 2013. The Columbia store is
the fourth ice cream shop owned by Alima and
his wife, Laura, and a fifth will open later this
summer in Chevy Chase.
“An ice cream shop is a perfect little happy
place within a community,” Alima said. “ You
see families, people on first dates.”
Each Charmery sells seven popular “always”
flavors, such as vanilla, chocolate and mint. In
addition, a new flavor is released each week
that was created in collaboration with a local
celebrity.
For instance, Howard County native Caroline Bowman was in town in June starring as
Elsa in the touring Broadway musical “Frozen.”
She and Alima’s team concocted a flavor called
“Frozen Fractals” that incorporates vanilla,
cookie dough and sprinkles.
Ten percent of the proceeds from the weekly
flavor is donated to a charity of the celebrity’s
choice; Bowman chose the Maryland Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
“I love shining a light on all the stars of our
city,” Alima said.