Before they opened their renowned and upscaleBern’s Steak House in 1956, Gert and Bern Laxer, dreamed about having an ice cream shop. More than a half-century later, the couple’s vision has come to life.
In August of 2019, the Bern’s family of restaurants debuted Little Midway, an ice cream and dessert parlor whose name pays homage to the humble sandwich café that the couple once operated.
Shortly after Little Midway opened, Robin Sussingham and Dalia Colón by for a kitchen tour with pastry chef Heather Birr.
Little Midway is located across the street from Bern’s Steak House and next to the Epicurean Hotel in South Tampa. Its menu features familiar favorites from the swanky Bern’s Dessert Room, such as the restaurant’s signature macadamia nut ice cream.
In total, there are 15 ice cream flavors in rotation at Little Midway, with a dozen displayed at any given time. Included in the rotation are seasonal flavors, such as apple pie. Little Midway’s staff is currently developing speciality flavors for the winter holidays.
“We don’t purchase anything,” Birr says. “Everything is made from scratch.” This means strawberry ice cream with fresh berries and vanilla ice cream with real vanilla beans, not the usual vanilla extract. Ice creams are for sale by the cone or pint.
“If you’re unable to get into the Dessert Room, you can come here and still get those same classic desserts to take home,” Birr notes. This marks the first time that patrons have been able to indulge in a Bern’s popular macadamia nut ice cream without getting dressed up for a big night out at the steak house.
In addition to ice cream, Little Midway offers cookie sandwiches, mason jar desserts and whole cakes.
Made-from-scratch foods with attention to detail is a hallmark of the Bern’s brand, as Robin learned during her all-access tour of Bern’s Steak House with Chef de Cuisine Hab Hamde.
“Everything is all handmade by our very small team”
– Heather Birr, Pastry Chef