Fairway Creamery: A Trifecta of Fulfillment

All photos by Emily Bordner.

Do you like coffee? Of course you do. How about ice cream? Obviously! Donuts? Foolish of me to inquire. Today, we bring you tidings of great joy. A single location, from renowned chocolatier Christopher Elbow, lies in wait for you in the heart of Fairway, Kansas (otherwise known as the City of Trees). Fairway Creamery offers you... All. Damn. Three. Christopher was kind enough to talk with us about his ever-expanding industry of delicious confections:

This fresh new concept opened its doors on May 24th, 2019. Christopher discovered this particular location far prior to having the idea for Fairway Creamery. Elbow said that he had always liked this part of Kansas, and was interested in opening a more family-friendly establishment. “We wanted something nostalgic and familiar,” he said, “Somewhere you could walk to as a family, like a neighborhood grocery.” Based on what we witnessed, families are already flocking in droves!

Initially, Elbow just planned on serving soft-serve ice cream, to differentiate the store from Glacé, but lucky for us he decided to offer scoop-able flavors as well. He wanted it to be “more accessible and less culinary,” the goal being to offer a more fun and not so serious vibe. Toppings are the name of the game. “Party toppings” are what Elbow prefers to call them. We liked the sugar pearls, in particular. Don’t let this trick you into thinking the ice cream isn’t top notch as well. It’s made with real vanilla bean and cocoa and you can get soft-serve, scoop, sundaes or floats.

New to the donut world, Elbow’s goal was not to overcomplicate things and bring you clean, natural takes on both cake and more brioche-style donuts. Their donuts have no dough conditioners or artificial flavors. One he was specifically proud of was their blueberry cake, consisting of blueberry purée and a beautiful, bright purple icing that gets its natural color from the berries. They will have rotating flavors each week, akin to Glacé. We sampled their Old-Fashioned, Lemon old-fashioned, Blueberry and Passion fruit cake, and Apricot jelly donut. None lasted long when placed before us. Get there early, though! The donuts are selling out every day.

It’s been exciting to watch Christopher Elbow’s brand and options evolve over time. We are truly lucky to have such a master of deliciousity here in our city, giving us new and interesting things to try, while constantly expanding his repertoire and our options of experiencing his varied talents. Grab the fam, find your way through the trees and make some time for Fairway Creamery. You won’t regret it!