Flavor Maker. When Tyler Malek, alongside his cousin Kim, began making and selling ice cream from a cart in 2011, he began charting the course for changing the way people experience and perceive ice cream forever. And he was recognized for it. Tyler was selected as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 for “Changing The Way America Eats”. With out-of-the-box ingredients like turkey, sweet potatoes, bleu cheese, garam masala, sea urchin and kale, Salt + Straw is the foodie favorite of ice creams. It’s all about what the family-run, small batch ice cream company calls “tasteprovoking” flavors. For Tyler, ice cream is an experience, a freeing experience, and he goes all in. This deeply passionate inventor is most connected to collaboration. It’s collaboration that fuels his fire. Each individual, artisanal creation is the physical embodiment of just that. You can taste the love and integrity in every bite. Does he consider himself creative? That answer is, notably, no. He considers himself more of a mix master, using his skill for math to balance, tweak, and elevate flavors. On this podcast we talk about Tyler’s unique perspective on ice cream, all the details for how Salt + Straw’s complex flavors come together, his initial career goals and what got him in the kitchen, how he miraculously produced ice cream from scrap product, the stories his flavors tell, the brand’s expansion and famous investors, career highs and lows, exciting new collabs, and more.