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Walking into the Los Angeles kitchen of Salt & Straw is more than a little magical. You’re hit with a rush of sugar, breathing in the aromas of fresh-baked brownies and an enormous batch of chocolate chip cookie dough churning in a giant mixer. At another table: mounds of vibrant red strawberries, picked at their peak. Then there are the trays and trays of almond brittle cooling in another corner. “That’s my grandmother’s recipe,” says Tyler Malek. “It’s a little under-baked right now, but by the time it’s in the ice cream it will have the perfect crunch.”

Tall and lanky, the bespectacled 28-year-old is the official head ice cream maker and creative mastermind behind the flavors at Salt & Straw and has been on board since the company was founded by his cousin Kim Malek in 2011. The popular Portland, Ore.-based ice cream company has just opened its third Los Angeles location, in Studio City.