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New York City doesn’t exactly lack in frozen dessert innovation; there’s rolled ice cream, mochi mashups and enough soft serve hybrids to fill a Chelsea gallery. But this fall, one collab might just out-New York every other sweet stunt on the block. Kith Treats, the streetwear brand’s cult-favorite ice cream bar, has teamed up with Katz’s Delicatessen, the 135-year-old Lower East Side institution, for a pair of deli-inspired sundaes that somehow manage to cram pickles, rye bread and latkes into a cup of vanilla. And honestly? It kind of works.
The partnership, part of Kith Treats’ ongoing Heritage Program (which has previously honored Levain Bakery and Lloyd’s Carrot Cake), launches September 12 and runs through September 21 at the brand’s New York shops in Soho, Williamsburg and Dumbo. The hook is simple: Take Katz’s classics and remix them into desserts bold enough to make your bubbe blush.
First up is The Dilluxe, a vanilla base laced with pastrami-seasoned rye bread croutons, ground mustard seeds, Katz’s full-brine pickles and French Toast Crunch cereal. The whole thing is showered with pastrami seasoning and capped—yes, literally garnished—with a Katz’s half-sour pickle spear. It’s a sundae that reads like a deli counter fever dream: tangy, crunchy, sweet, salty and aggressively New York.
Then there’s The Latke, arguably the more approachable of the duo, though it still pulls no punches. Here, vanilla ice cream gets mixed with sour cream and onion chips, applesauce and corn flakes before being topped with apple jam, Maldon salt and the pièce de resistance: Katz’s mini latkes. It’s basically your Hanukkah dessert table melted down into a single cup and it might just convince you that potatoes belong in ice cream after all.
More than just a quirky menu stunt, the collaboration is a celebration of two New York originals—Katz’s, the Houston Street landmark slinging mile-high pastrami sandwiches since 1888, and Kith Treats, the cereal-bar-turned-fashion-accessory celebrating its 10th anniversary. Together, they bridge a century-plus of tradition with a decade of hype-driven creativity.
Whether you’re in it for the novelty Instagram shot or you’re genuinely curious what a pickle spear tastes like on top of soft serve, you’ve got 10 days to find out. One thing’s for sure: Only in New York could mini latkes and pastrami croutons pass as sundae toppings—and somehow feel perfectly at home.