Wine and Ice Cream Are a Terrible Pairing, So Why Are Bars Selling Them Side By Side?
In 2023, a popular Paris bar made waves when it hired a bouncer to control the crowds swarming its doors. The bar, named Folderol, isn’t a hot night club or a celebrity haunt, but rather a small space serving natural wine and homemade ice cream.
Folderol quickly became a local favorite when it opened in December 2020, but after a series of TikToks gushing over the wine bar’s perfectly Parisian aesthetic went viral, an overwhelming number of eager drinkers lined up just to snap a video of the wine and ice cream combo. Owners Jessica Yang and Robert Compagnon implemented multiple measures to attenuate the mob, hanging a sign that read “no TikTok,” restricting the outdoor seating, and, yes, hiring a bouncer. The buzz sparked a global phenomenon, and a number of bars inspired by Folderol quickly opened in New York, London, Tokyo, Mexico City, and beyond.
Traditional principles would advise against serving wine with ice cream. So outside of the obvious visual appeal — photos of orange wine positioned around dainty tin cups of perfect ice cream scoops seem to hit a very specific pleasure center in the brain — why did this concept take off with such gusto? And why are so many bars getting in on it?
An Unlikely Duo
Though these establishments are wildly popular, there’s still some confusion over the core premise: Are guests meant to enjoy the wine and ice cream together or separately?
At spots like Tokyo’s Kasiki, the two are presented as a pairing, but Folderol’s owners insist that they never intended for the wine and ice cream to be consumed together.
Folderol, Credit: @f.o.l.d.e.r.o.l via Instagram
Wife-and-husband-team Yang and Compagnon both have extensive experience working as chefs at top Michelin-starred restaurants. The two opened their first joint restaurant, Le Rigmarole, in Paris in 2017, and when the next door space became available, the couple saw it as an opportunity to expand. Previously a cave à vin, Yang and Compagnon wanted to keep the integrity of the location as a wine bar, but had also always dreamed of opening an ice cream shop. So they decided to put both concepts in the same space.
“A lot of people pooh-poohed the idea at first: Sugar breaks your palate and cold breaks your palate — the equation doesn’t make sense,” Yang says. “For us it was just sharing two of our passions. When people come in the point isn’t to pair wine and ice cream together. We have good ice cream. We have good wine. Do with that what you want.”
The idea felt very whimsical, but also made sense from a business perspective. “The French don’t usually eat ice cream in the colder months,” Yang says. “We thought the wine bar would be a safety net for the winter.” They also knew that the concept gave them the potential to stand out from the abundance of similar spots in Paris. “Within a 10-minute walk of where we are, there are 12 natural wine bars that serve similar bottles,” Compagnon adds. “Why not do something different that sets you apart?”
The resulting bar clearly tapped deep into a universal desire for childlike joy and nostalgia — something that’s currently manifesting in more ways than one across the beverage industry. “That’s kind of what we like to do, focus on things people have positive associations with,” Compagnon says. “Ice cream can turn grownups into kids again, and guests leave Folderol feeling elated.”
Inclusive Spaces
The latest in a string of Folderol-inspired bars is Detroit’s Bar Chenin, which opened in early 2025. The space puts a distinctly grunge, Midwestern spin on Folderol’s original bright and clean aesthetic, sometimes even placing bottles of Underberg on its less-than-perfect ice cream scoops. Owner Nick Arone admits that he was taken by the sense of community that Folderol created and wanted to bring that feeling to his home in Detroit.
Since the combo so blatantly flies in the face of wine’s traditionally stringent pairing recommendations, why not order a makgeolli to accompany a scoop of banana leaf ice cream?
“You want to make people feel like they are part of something. That’s what Folderol does,” he says. “Hanging on the street drinking with your friends, maybe having wine, maybe having ice cream. It brings something different to how we normally think of restaurants.”
Bar Chenin, Credit: Nick Arone
At Bar Chenin, the ice cream acts as a separate menu item rather than a required pairing — though if forced to choose, Arone would match Vin Jaune with his peanut ice cream — so those not interested in drinking can still indulge in a familiar treat.
“I see ice cream in a wine bar as an additional non-alcoholic option,” Arone says. “Going to the bar with your friends, it’s good to have something that isn’t a mass-produced product made with a million ingredients. These are simple, enjoyable things that bring you back down to earth of what a natural wine bar is — showcasing people who are stewards of the land.” Rather than the big-brand NA options, Arone believes his artisanal ice creams better replicate the experience of enjoying natural wine.
Inclusivity and accessibility were some of the original motivations for Yang and Compagnon as well. The couple noted that as new parents at the time they opened Folderol, the concept felt practical for families who might want to stop by a bar — wine for the adults, ice cream for the children (OK, and ice cream for the adults, too).
Another factor is the naturally unpretentious nature of ice cream. At any level, wine bars can be intimidating. Guests might worry about saying the wrong thing to a sommelier or not recognizing any of the esoteric names on the by-the-glass list. But adding ice cream to the equation instantly makes the space feel more welcoming. It gives the guest a sense that they don’t have to play by wine’s traditional rules and that anything goes.
Pushing the Pairing Boundaries
For Lai Rai, a bar that opened on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 2024, the notion of serving ice cream with wine unlocked an entirely new level of pairing possibilities. Instead of making expected flavors like chocolate, vanilla, and pistachio, the Vietnamese wine bar — from the teams behind NYC’s beloved restaurants Mắm and Di an Di — used the ice cream as a canvas to convey Vietnamese flavors.
Lai Rai serves creations like fish sauce caramel, chrysanthemum, banana leaf, and Vietnamese coffee. And in addition to a selection of natural wines the bar expands its beverage selections beyond just grape wines, offering sake and specialty rice wines from Korea and Vietnam.
Though some might find the wine and ice cream concept confusing, it opens people’s minds to trying something they wouldn’t have considered before. Since the combo so blatantly flies in the face of wine’s traditionally stringent pairing recommendations, why not order a makgeolli to accompany a scoop of banana leaf ice cream?
The many iterations of the wine and ice cream bar don’t all replicate Folderol’s original idea, but the concept opened a door for wine bars to experiment with something new — and something that they already knew customers love. Whether that be exploring new flavor combinations, providing an accessible space for the community, or just adding an extra layer of chocolate chip-filled joy to the typical wine bar outing.
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