Nice Dream Ices: Plant-Based Scoops & Psychedelic Cocktails Arrive in Yucca Valley

Uncategorized

Awaiting audio

From Brooklyn Streets to High Desert Dreams

Coral and her partner, Trevor, met in Brooklyn in 2017 and, like many New Yorkers, ran hard on the city’s carousel—work, subway, repeat—until 2020 forced a pause. The pivot wasn’t only about the pandemic; it was about seeking a pace where a day could include a climb, a conversation, and a meal that didn’t demand an entire paycheck. They bought a house in Joshua Tree sight unseen, drove across the country, and started figuring out life far from bodegas and brownstones.

Food became a safe language during a strange, socially distant year. At the Joshua Tree Farmers Market, Kaity from TD Farms handed them sweet potatoes. Ren turned those into ice cream, brought a pint back, and a small exchange—tuber for scoop—made the desert feel like home. That’s the origin story of Nice Dream Ices: a hyper-local, non-dairy ice cream project born from a neighborly loop of gratitude.
- Coral Lee, Founder

Rooted in Community: The Joshua Tree Farmers Market Beginning

Before any brick and mortar, Nice Dream Ices built a following under a tent in downtown Joshua Tree on Saturdays, where the certified farmers market runs 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. year-round.

Editorial Note

The team talks about joy the way a baker talks about flour—basic, essential. At the market, scoops served as connection points: a reason to try an unfamiliar vegetable, to sit and catch up with a friend, to take a breather in a week that asked for too much.

Relationships formed organically. Kaity at TD Farms supplied those formative sweet potatoes. Customers like Dana became friends. The booth turned into a listening post for what the community wanted: delight, inspiration, and a place where food felt like a shared project rather than a commodity.

That market feedback loop shaped the vision for the next step—somewhere you could linger, not just line up.
- Coral Lee, Founder

Crafting Plant-Based Delights with a Local Touch

Nice Dream’s frozen desserts are non-dairy by design: Trevor is allergic to dairy, so early recipe testing was a solo act until Ren developed coconut- and oat-milk bases that met the bar for texture, flavor, and joy. Today, offerings are largely vegan and gluten-free, with occasional flourishes like egg-white marshmallow or cake crumble when the flavor demands it.

Menus are dictated by the market, not the other way around. If the peaches are singing, sorbet leads. If citrus is flush, creams go brighter. Ingredients come first from Joshua Tree Farmers Market vendors; for items not available locally, Nice Dream partners with mission-driven producers like Moka Origins for chocolate, folding ethics into the supply chain as intentionally as sea salt into fudge.

Local Insight

The broader context matters, too. The High Desert food scene has ripened over the last few years; there are more small producers, more pop-ups, more options. A friend once told the team you know a small town has “made it” when there are two great choices for everything—two coffee shops, two bakeries, two wine bars. The Nice Dream crew sees abundance as a rising tide rather than a turf war, a stance that tends to keep ideas—and collaborations—flowing.

Beyond Ice Cream: A Multi-Use Space for Gathering and Creativity

The new shop sits at 56778 Twentynine Palms Highway, roughly 500 feet east of Grand Avenue—easy to spot along Highway 62.

The Town of Yucca Valley approved a site plan review and conditional use permit on October 11, 2023, allowing the 3,936-square-foot building to be renovated for an ice cream shop, retail space, café, bakery, and cocktail bar. Construction has been progressing since, with the owners targeting an opening in Fall 2025.

Inside, four former units have been opened up to let the space breathe. The highway-facing side anchors a circular counter—a nod to vintage soda fountains—where you’ll order ice cream, espresso or matcha, pastries, and lunch. The other three units hold communal seating designed for staying a while: book in hand, laptop open, or just conversation unspooling like a summer afternoon.

Lunch is led by chef Ren Rossini (Fatted Calf, Noon All Day, Che Fico), with a market-driven menu that leans Mediterranean but happily wanders where inspiration leads. Expect shareable plates, vegetables at peak season, and, thanks to Ren’s decade as a butcher and salumi maker, the occasional meaty flourish—confit chicken leg, housemade sausage, maybe pâté or rillettes when the mood strikes.

The kitchen will also host a Chef Residency program, inviting friends from San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, and beyond to take over for special dinners. It’s an approach that funnels city energy into a desert dining room without sacrificing the local pulse.

When the sun drops behind the ridgelines, the space shifts into Sugar Water, a reservation-only bar at launch led by bar director Jesse Ditson. Think a creative—and at times theatrical—program that explores spirited, spirit-free, and in-between drinks with equal curiosity. The plan is to make the bar a destination for connoisseurs and teetotalers alike, with technique and surprise as the through line.

Navigating Challenges with Community Support and Perseverance

Important

Opening a multi-use food space along a state highway is rarely linear. The Planning Commission process included approvals for a change of use and discussions around parking, culminating in permit approval in October 2023. Because of the site’s Highway 62 frontage and change of use, the project also triggered $23,427 in in-lieu fees for future highway widening—costs the commission could not waive, recommending any appeal go to Town Council.

Those bureaucratic hurdles were balanced by a steady drumbeat of support: customers attending Planning Commission hearings, then stopping by the market booth to ask for updates; after-hours debriefs with fellow small business owners like Liz Lapp and Lara Wilson; and the burst of community around the Hi-Desert Cookbook Club, which Ren helped start and watched take on a life of its own.

The through-line in all that activity is simple: the desert’s appetite for connection, joy, and good food remains high.
- Coral Lee, Founder

Planning Your Visit: What to Expect at Nice Dream Ices

Anticipated opening: Fall 2025, pending final inspections and finishing touches.
Address: 56778 Twentynine Palms Highway, Yucca Valley, roughly 500 feet east of Grand Avenue along Highway 62.
Daytime offerings: vegan and gluten-free non-dairy ice creams and fruit sorbets; espresso and matcha beverages; pastries; and a Mediterranean-inspired, market-driven lunch menu led by chef Ren Rossini, with occasional meaty specials.
Evenings: Sugar Water, a creative and “psychedelic” cocktail and non-alcoholic bar experience directed by Jesse Ditson; reservations recommended at launch.
Before they open: Try Nice Dream Ices at the Joshua Tree Farmers Market on Saturdays, 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., in downtown Joshua Tree. It’s an easy way to taste the season and see what might land on opening menus.
Community happenings: Keep an eye out for Chef Residency dinners after opening and ongoing gatherings like the Hi-Desert Cookbook Club.

We could not find businesses or events with coordinates—add a few to view the map blox.

From the regulatory front, the project’s approvals are in place; construction and inspections have been noted as progressing, with the team moving toward that fall target—another signal that scoops, lunches, and nightcaps aren’t far off.

A New Chapter of Joy and Connection in the High Desert

From a farmers market sweet potato exchange to a multi-room café, kitchen, and bar on Highway 62, Nice Dream Ices has grown in step with the community that first welcomed it.