CLOSED: Feed your sweet tooth at Mia’s Italian Ice in Lehi
The six item milk chocolate fondue at Mia's Italian Ice in Lehi. Photographed on Tuesday, August 14, 2012. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
Stephen Hatch prepares a blue rasperry medium Mamma Mia at Mia's Italian Ice in Lehi. The Mamma Mias feature italian ice layered with chocolate or vanilla custard. Photographed on Tuesday, August 14, 2012. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
The six item milk chocolate fondue, a large strawberry Mamma Mia, and a blue rasperry medium Mamma Mia, from left, at Mia's Italian Ice in Lehi. The Mamma Mias feature italian ice layered with chocolate or vanilla custard. Photographed on Tuesday, August 14, 2012. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
Your ever-accountable ego may caution you with images of bursting buttons as you step inside Mia’s Italian Ice in Lehi, but your indulgent id will want a bite of everything it can see. And that’s before you’ve even tasted any of the chocolatey, custardy, cool and creamy goodness that draws the eyeballs like a magnet and practically demands to be sampled.
Mia’s location, cheek-by-jowl with a Papa Murphy’s pizza joint in a modest strip mall across the road from the historic Lehi Roller Mills — as seen in the movie “Footloose” — is just about the only unprepossessing thing about it. The rest of what you’ll see, whether it’s the white-chocolate dipped Oreo cookies, or the pleasantly colorful interior trim, will hold your attention.
There are tables and chairs both inside and out, but my sense of Mia’s, which opened in July, is that where or even whether you sit to eat is one of the last things you’re likely to recall about the experience. We got the dining area to ourselves by making an afternoon excursion to sample Mia’s many treats, but evenings are likely to be crowded, especially as the word gets out.
Italian ice is like a slush or snow cone, only with a much smoother, firmer texture and a richer flavor: Think snow cone on steroids. The scrumptious, mostly fruity flavors at Mia’s are both sharp and sweet, and the peach, cherry and lemon ices are particularly savory. You could probably walk away satisfied without trying anything else and your waistline might thank you, but your tongue and stomach would be certain to rebel.
There are two confections that mingle Italian ice with custard — sweet, creamy, delicious custard — and both are worthy of a taste drive. The Mama Mia is layered, while the Italian Shake blends the two together. The menu also offers an array of tasty mix-ins — is there any dessert in the world that you couldn’t make better by adding crumbled Heath bars to it? — which you may do with as you will.
To me, at least, what seems likely to become the signature treat at Mia’s is an explosion of calories called a custard cupcake. Sweet Mother of Abraham Lincoln and Merciful Saints Go Marching In, the custard cupcake. It’s like the Mother of All Desserts.
The custard cupcake has an edible chocolate-shell wrapper, a moist cake center, custard, whipped cream and probably pie filling, doughnuts and sprinkles from the powdered horn of a rainbow-colored unicorn. OK, so I don’t even know what unicorn sprinkles taste like, but the custard cupcake is a dessert to remember. So much so, actually, that it almost caused me forget another Mia’s standout, the silky smooth milk chocolate fondue that vanished from its serving dish almost as quickly as it showed up at our table.
I’m not sure who Mia is — the owner-operators are Stephen and Mysha Hatch — but the best new ice cream parlor in Lehi is certainly a credit to her name.
Mia’s Italian Ice
Where: 770 East Main Street, Suite B, Lehi
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Prices: Less than $10
Info: (801) 331-8785 www.facebook.com/MiasItalianIce