Aisu Pop's Explosion of Cool

Aisu Pop's Capay Candystripe and Creme Fraiche ice pop.

​One of the most popular vendors at Eat Real Fest on Saturday was also one of the simplest: Aisu Pop, purveyor of gourmet ice pops. Owing to the days' high of 93 degrees, Aisu sold 1,000 pops in the afternoon, the entire weekend's stash. And that was with some not-exactly-traditional flavors, including honeydew-wasabi, Thai tea-sweet potato, kaffir lime-avocado, and Capay Candystripe fig and creme fraiche. By midday, we were scrambling for the last of the batch, the broken yet supremely yummy kaffir and Capay soldiers that instantly became prized generals for our overheated troop.

Aisu is based all the way up in Davis, where it sets up every Wednesday and Saturday at the farmers' market -- a great alternative stop to the Nut Tree on your way to Sacramento or Tahoe. But perhaps owner Jaymes Luu will be encouraged by Saturday's smash success and participate in more local events. In the meantime, while it's rarely that scorching on this side of the bay, the idea of inventive frozen treats could still be super hot over here. Just sayin'.