Kalene McElveen is doing more than bringing delicious desserts to Wyoming Park. She’s helping revitalize a neighborhood with her Tastefull Vegan frozen dessert shop. According to a story in Rapid Growth:
The intersection of Porter Street, Wyoming Avenue and Lee Street was a bustling shopping destination before malls and supermarkets came on the scene. In the 50s and 60s, neighbors shopped Wierda’s for groceries, VanKalkers for clothing and dry goods, Community Bakery for breads and baked goods and Chet Brown’s for a new TV or radio. The barber shop clipped busily along and Wyoming Park Pharmacy featured everything from aspirin and 45 records to a photo shop and post office. In fact, the east wall of the pharmacy was a soda bar that served ice cream cones, sodas, and malts.
A Wyoming resident born and raised in Detroit, McElveen is building on that legacy with frozen desserts that are free of dairy, nuts, soy, gluten, eggs and refined sugar. The soft serve ice cream, freeze pops and frozen dessert bars get rave reviews from those with and without dietary restrictions. Michigan maple syrup sweetens the desserts, which have a coconut or fruit base.
Tastefull Vegan Frozen Dessert debuted at the Fulton Street Farmers Market in spring 2021. Since then, Harvest Health, Forest Hills Foods, Bridge Street Market and Spun Sugar Detroit have begun featuring McElveen’s wares in their freezer cases. The brick-and-mortar location not only provides an additional retail opportunity but gives McElveen her own certified kitchen space for creating products.
