Chef Jet Tila dives into dessert business with Kuma Snow Cream

The space may be small, but chef Jet Tila has big plans for his latest venture, Kuma Snow Cream.

Snow cream is not ice cream, and it’s not a snow cone. It’s a mix of the two and the latest idea to carve out a niche in the ice cream market.

“We built this concept to do a national brand,” Tila said. “That’s why we overengineered everything. It looks like it’s not a mom-and-pop store.”

The first Kuma Snow Cream shop opened May 24 at 3735 Spring Mountain Road, Suite 206, on the southeast corner of Valley View Boulevard on the tip of Chinatown.

When will Tila know if Kuma Snow Cream is a winner?

“Within 90 days I’ll know,” he said.
“... I’m ready to go to New York and Manhattan right now. But in terms of expansion in Vegas, I’ll give it 30 to 90 days, and if (sales are) overwhelming, we already have real estate guys in Vegas courting us.”

His partner in the business is Scott Okazaki. Tila is known locally as the former executive chef for Wazuzu at Wynn Las Vegas. Okazaki was his chef de cuisine but these days oversees the operational aspect of the business. Tila is the front person.

“I drive the bus,” Tila said.

Within minutes of the initial opening, the shop was doing steady business. It could have been that it was lunch hour, or it could have been because it’s behind a Starbucks. The shop has a modest counter space with toppings visible behind a Plexiglas partition.

Snow cream flavors can change but for now include mango, Kuma Snow, taro, green tea and strawberry. Fresh fruit toppings this day included mango, blueberries, strawberries and pineapple. For an Asian twist, there are lychee, red beans, green apple jelly and popping pearls. The child in everyone can opt for Cap’n Crunch, Gummi Bears, M & Ms, Butterfinger pieces and crushed Oreos.

There are two sizes: the Ninja (20 ounces) and the Sumo (32 ounces). The Ninja costs $5.50, and the Sumo is $7 plus tax.

“This is a very new shaved ice concept,” Tila said. “It originated in Taiwan, where it’s wildly popular. Taiwan is a place that came up with boba drinks and a lot of dessert concepts, and this type of concept is very popular currently, and it hasn’t crossed over (to America) yet. ... We call it snow cream because it eats like fresh, powdered snow and it tastes like ice cream, so that’s where we came up with the Kuma Snow Cream (name).”

After getting their order, patrons can make use of the handful of tables or take it to go.

Tila said he used his chef skills to tweak the tastes and that snow cream is a “healthier product than ice cream, a healthier product than frozen yogurt.”

Alleen Lai found out about the shop on Facebook. She ordered the Panda Berry, a mix of strawberry snow cream and crumbled Oreo cookies and almonds topped with maraschino cherries and chocolate sauce. What was the first bite like?

“It was really yummy, chocolatey and had a little bit of peanuts and Oreo,” she said.

She admitted her choice was swayed by the way it was advertised.

“I like that it had ‘panda’ in it’s name because I really like pandas,” she said.

Suzy Hendrix brought her son, Derek, 5, who ignored his Kuma sundae to munch on dry cereal instead. His mother got the Bruce Tea but substituted the taro flavor for green tea. That one comes with mochi (a gummy-like treat made of rice), red beans, popping pearls and condensed milk.

“Taro is really good because it’s not overly sweet,” she said, adding that she felt little guilt. “I read where it has a quarter of the calories of ice cream and is even less than frozen yogurt. I actually like it better.”

Those are sweet words to Tila’s ears.

“I wanted to start this in Vegas. Nothing ever starts in Vegas. I wanted to start it and grow it here. ... (This first one will do) very well. We want Summerlin people to come out and check it out, and if they like it, I’ll open one in Summerlin,” he said.

A grand opening is planned from 8 p.m. to midnight June 29 with a free block party set to feature a live disc jockey on the patio, local pop-up shops and sample bites from the Fukuburger Truck.

Hours are from noon to midnight daily. For more information, call 702-816-5862 or visit kumasnowcream.com.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.