Eric Koenreich in his newly-opened, retro sweets shop Kookies & Kream, taken by Wyatt Kostygan

The nineteen-nineties. A time of MTV music video marathons, video game arcades and Saturday morning cartoons. A time reminisced, where you stuffed your face with greasy pizza, candy and other junk food with reckless abandon. Kookies & Kream Sarasota, owned and operated by Sarasota native Eric Koenreich, helps to bring back that 90’s nostalgia, one giant cookie-brownie at a time. What started with intentions of becoming an ice cream shop, much like an average turtle coming into contact with a certain alien goo, transformed into something much more exciting. Namely, a pretty sweet dessert shop—paying homage to the snacks of our youth and guaranteed to give millennials a blast from the past—serving up huge, half-pound treats with flavors inspired by Cosmic Brownies, Dunkaroos, Captain Crunch and more.

 

The Peanut Butter Candy Bucket: Nutter Butter crust, chocolate cookie with Reese’s Cups, Reese’s Take 5, Reese’s Pieces, peanut butter and peanut butter drizzle, courtesy of @kookiesandkream 

And it’s not just the cereal and candy bar flavorings that will bring you back. With decor inspired by Koenreich’s favorite boyhood hangouts, stepping through the front door of Kookies & Kream may leave you feeling like you’ve just been transported back 20-some years to your family’s basement or childhood bedroom—memorabilia from Space Jam posters, Spice Girls album covers, Nintendo controllers with Mario Kart games, Pokémon figurines and Barbie dolls. So, if you’re in the mood for a hefty dose of 90s, pick up a Salted Caramel Twix or Reese’s Pieces FrankenCup cookie from Kookies & Kream, pop in your favorite VHS (if that’s even still possible) and let yourself drift to simpler times: late night movies and trading cards with friends, when you knew nothing of bills or mortgages and your biggest problem was wondering how to invite your crush to the pizza party.

Kookies & Kream, 39 S Beneva Rd., Sarasota, kookiesandkream.com