Watch Out, Blue Bell

It’s safe to say it’s been a busy year for restaurateur Lee Ellis. The bearded dynamo debuted his new restaurant group, Cherry Pie Hospitality, in April, and soon after launched Texas-themed eatery State Fare, which is located in the former Pour Society space (947 Gessner Road).

In addition, he’s helping Anthony Calleo open the first brick-and-mortar location of food truck Pi Pizza later this month and is still expanding the menu at his eponymous restaurant in The Heights — Lee’s Fried Chicken and Donuts.

But Ellis has more up his sleeve. In July, he debuted Lee’s Creamery, his namesake line of 50-plus flavors of ice cream. Double vanilla bean, avocado lime, strawberry cheesecake, Nutella rocky road, peaches and cream, Mexican chocolate, lemon-blueberry, and sweet cream corn are just a fraction of the frozen renditions — all made with natural local ingredients, including milk from Tomball-based Gramen Farms‘ Jersey cows and Texas eggs (the actual ice cream recipe is a secret).

“Ice cream is my all-time favorite go-to dessert. I’ve always wanted to develop an ice cream line and found the perfect ingredients to help me make this super rich, velvety ice cream,” Ellis says.

You can taste peaches and cream, strawberry cheesecake, double vanilla bean and Mexican chocolate at Lee’s Fried Chicken & Donuts smothered between two donuts — a concoction called the donut double-scoop ice cream sandwich. (Or head over to Ellis and Suzan Molzan’s West Alabama bakery, Petite Sweets, for the full gamut of flavors.)