Melting Point Leeds: Inside chef Johno Storey’s daring new ice cream shop with wild flavour ideas
On the ground floor of Leeds’ grand Victorian Corn Exchange, a new artisan ice cream parlour is making a stir.
Melting Point, which is the creation of chef-turned-ice-cream-maker Johno Storey, boasts wild flavours including goat’s cheese and ginger, malted milk, and lapsang souchong.
“Generally speaking, I think it would be very difficult to get an ingredient that wouldn’t work in an ice cream,” the 32-year-old told the YEP. “The concept is all about flavour. That's the one thing at the foundation of everything I do.”
Originally from Barnsley, he trained as a chef at college before moving to Leeds at 19. After a few years in professional kitchens, he pivoted to front-of-house roles, working his way up the ranks at boutique hotel chain Malmaison.
Johno spent years honing his palate in restaurant kitchens and rooftop cocktail bars in cities including Newcastle, York and Manchester - but had always wanted to open his own business in Leeds.
“I've always liked ice cream and I specialised in pastry when I was a chef,” he said. “I’ve always been involved with desserts in some way or other over the last 12 years.”
Then came lockdown - which was an opportunity to experiment for Johno. He recalled: “I started making more and more ice cream.
“There’s a big gap in the market here in Leeds for what I wanted to do. There’s nowhere else that offers this. I came to view this unit in the Corn Exchange in October last year - and everything went from there.”
When asked whether it was a nerve-wracking prospect, Johno laughed: “A lot of people tell me I am way too relaxed about things. If I was nervous about anything, it was more about people not liking the product, rather than the fact I was opening my own business.”
But people have quickly discovered this hidden gem in the city centre - and realised they love the product. In fact, the response since opening four weeks ago has been, in his words, “incredible”.
His Instagram feed is full of praise. Johno said: “People have been very curious and I’ve had loads of messages asking questions about what we’re doing.”
Part of that buzz has been fuelled by a competition he held on the social media platform, inviting locals to pitch flavour ideas. Among the wild entries were: gochujang (a spicy Korean chilli paste), burnt honey and miso, and blue cheese with pear and walnut praline.
The winning combo? “The sesame with sea salt and dark chocolate. It’s a great flavour and something that I’ve never done before, so I think it will work really well.”
That openness to new ideas is key to Melting Point’s mission. Johno continued: “I’ve got more ideas for ice cream than I know what to do with. I've already had 30 different flavours on the menu.
“The one that I really want to do quite soon is a brown bread ice cream. It will definitely work - people will really like that malty, bready, beery taste. It’s familiar and comforting.”
Each flavour begins with quality ingredients, often locally sourced. He said: “Everything is made by me. Our milk and cream come from Elmfield Farm Dairies in Doncaster. I also go to Kirkgate Market two or three times a week to get ingredients that I think are interesting.”
An example of this is the current loquat ice cream: a sweet-tart scoop made with a Japanese fruit rarely seen in the UK. Johno explained: “That’s the great thing about working in a diverse city like Leeds - you get to use ingredients that are more unusual."
Even the more traditional flavours have a twist. When asked about his personal favourite, he said: “It sounds basic, but chocolate. If you buy chocolate ice cream from one of the major brands, the quality tends to be poor - because they’re using cocoa.
“But I make it with an incredible 80 per cent Colombian chocolate. It’s how chocolate ice cream should taste.”