The new Lower East Side space is the hub for interactive dessert, art, culture, community, and imagination.
Photography by Denise Stephanie Hewitt
When you visit most dessert spots in New York City, you leave with a memory of the line around the block and less-than-fresh ingredients. Softville offers a more refreshing, fulfilling, and memorable experience. As their first location outside Australia, the beloved Gelato Messina collaborated with New York City’s Studio Jeremyville to create an immersive space where you can leave not only with a handcrafted gelato bowl in soft serve form, but also with art figurines and learn about the art pieces on display by Studio Jeremyville.
“Softville is really a natural evolution of a creative relationship that spans more than 20 years between Studio Jeremyville and Gelato Messina,” says Megan Mair, Creative Director of Studio Jeremyville and Co-Founder of Softville. “Our collaboration began in Australia, where we worked closely with Messina to bring art and creativity into their world, from murals and installations in their early stores to creative campaigns and brand collaborations. Over the years, Studio Jeremyville has grown into an international art and design practice, creating public art, sculptures, exhibitions and immersive experiences around the world. We’d always been interested in the idea of creating a space of our own, where we could bring together our love of art, design, food, and culture in a more permanent and meaningful way.”
Before you walk in, you’re greeted with a gallery window of large-scale ceramic sculptures that represent New York City caricatures and trademarks created by Studio Jeremyville. Before you reach the dessert, you’re diverted to what feels like a museum gift shop.
Trinkets, books, accessories, T-shirts, games, prints, bags, and collaborative figurines, all designed and made by Studio Jeremyville, introduce the dessert shop’s themes throughout the space: how the caricatures intertwine with the soft serve gelato, how guests can interact with the caricatures, and how they can develop a narrative and relate to them. That creates an unforgettable experience before you even serve yourself a bowl, whether you’re young or old.
Photography by Denise Stephanie Hewitt
“New York felt like the natural home for Softville,” she says. “It’s where we’ve lived and developed our creative practice for over 20 years, and it’s a city that thrives on the intersection of art, food, design, and culture. We wanted to create a destination where people could experience creativity through all their senses—something they could see, taste, feel, and participate in. Ultimately, Softville is about making creativity accessible, playful, and part of everyday life. Whether you’re discovering a new artwork, creating your own sundae, or joining one of our creative clubs, it’s about finding moments of joy and connection.”
You have a plethora of options when making a Softville bowl. They offer classic flavors like chocolate and vanilla, fruity flavors like mango, strawberry, and coconut, and indulgent flavors like spiced pumpkin, cheesecake, and fior di latte. Along with fresh ingredients and toppings, they also make signature chef sundaes in their bakery, with creations like piña colada, dulce con churros, pavlova, birthday cake, or your own with as many or as few ingredients as you’d like.
“At the heart of Softville is our chef-driven approach to dessert, combining Gelato Messina’s expertise in gelato making with the creativity and imagination of Studio Jeremyville,” Mair says. “We’re taking a traditional gelato-making philosophy and applying it to soft serve, using exceptional ingredients and making everything from scratch in our in-house pastry kitchen. We use fresh milk from Ronnybrook Farm in the Hudson Valley, and our chefs prepare all our sauces, cakes, pralines, and other dessert components in-house.”
Once you choose the base, you then get to the toppings. Unlike many ice cream, frozen yogurt, and gelato shops, Softville lets you choose and add your own toppings. That freedom eliminates the pressure to add or not add what you would usually see behind a glass pane, unable to explore your options. There are dozens of toppings, including berries, nuts, granola, sprinkles, brownies, chocolate chips, cookie dough, dried fruits, and syrups.
Photo Courtesy of Softville
I have a chocolate addiction, so I ordered a chocolate-vanilla swirl topped with brownies, chocolate chips, sprinkles, cookie dough, and chocolate syrup. You can order a small cup, but of course, I ordered a large bowl to fit all of my toppings and get more gelato soft-serve.
“Ultimately, we want every dessert to feel like a little work of art,” Mair says. “It’s about exceptional quality and craftsmanship, but also the joy of discovery, imagination, and a little indulgence.”
When you finish making your sweet creation, you can sit in the dining area. The cozy yet contemporary space features oak dining booths with a retro-modern, open feel. Large Studio Jeremyville paintings line the walls, along with small ceramic figurines on the shelf that double as collectible serving bowls and a large-scale sculpture between the booths.
We wanted guests to feel part of the creative process, whether they’re designing their own sundae, discovering an artwork, or enjoying one of our chef-created desserts,” she says. “But what really excites us is the opportunity to build a sense of community. Through our Softville Social and Creative Clubs, we’re introducing drawing sessions, creative workshops, artist conversations and gatherings that encourage people to connect, participate and share ideas. For us, Softville is about creating a cultural meeting place in the heart of the Lower East Side, a neighborhood with such a rich history of art, creativity and independent spirit.”
Photography by Denise Stephanie Hewitt
Before you leave Softville, every guest is given a “fortune cookie.” These fortune cookies, also created by Studio Jeremyville, depict a quirky illustration accompanied by quick-witted words of affirmation. My fortune cookie read, “Stuff happens,” and the illustration was a unicorn with good intentions who accidentally ran its horn into a flying dove.
Softville offers even more than just art and gelato in soft-serve form; they also want to open the space for artists to showcase their work. Every Tuesday, they host the Softville Social Club, where people can make new connections and bond over gelato soft-serve, art, culture, and community.
“We see Softville as an evolving creative space, with opportunities to introduce new artists, collaborations, limited-edition collectibles, and exhibitions,” Mair says. “Ultimately, we want to make art feel accessible, inviting, and part of everyday life. Whether you’re discovering an artwork, collecting a beautifully designed object, or enjoying a sundae surrounded by sculpture, it’s about bringing creativity into unexpected moments. We want Softville to be somewhere people come for the dessert but stay for the experience—a place that inspires curiosity, sparks conversation, and brings a little more joy and imagination into everyday life.”
