Los Ranchos de Albuquerque gets a scoop of happiness with Cottonwood Creamery & Cookies opening

For Paul Meyer, there was no better feeling than the joy and wonder he got from climbing the cottonwood trees in the North Valley as a child.

He wants his new business, Cottonwood Creamery & Cookies, to give people that same feeling.

“Making tree houses and just a time of innocence — that’s what I really wanted to express with this,” Meyer said of the new ice cream shop and sweet cafe, located in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.

Meyer and his fiancée and co-owner Irma Ruiz launched the business inside Unit A of a newly built shopping center at 6561 Fourth NW in August. The shop serves a rotating lineup of artisanal New Mexico-inspired ice cream flavors, cookies and lunchtime snacks, all made in-house and available for under $20.

Some of the flavors Meyer and Ruiz have created so far include lemon verbena, brown butter ice cream with praline pecans, strawberry meringue, hatch green chile with piñon, New Mexico s’mores featuring biscochitos in place of graham crackers, and honeycomb sopaipilla, which Meyer said has been a favorite. The shop’s blue corn waffle cone has also been a hit.

“This is home,” Meyer said of New Mexico’s influence on the shop’s offerings.

The business has been a homecoming for Meyer, who grew up in New Mexico but left for California, where he lived for 30 years and met Ruiz. Ruiz was born and raised in El Salvador but migrated to California at 10 years old.

Ruiz’s roots are also reflected in the ice cream shop’s flavors through an espresso ice cream with plantain brittle.

While in California, the co-owners both worked in the service industry and partnered on several creative projects, including house flips and several graphic and animated book projects. Meyer bartended while pursuing acting and writing jobs, while Ruiz was a cook at several cafes before working at a property management company.

With a large pool of Meyer’s family residing in and growing older in New Mexico, the pair decided it was time to return to the state. With help from funds gained from selling their California home, they sought to launch a business that could be solely of their own creations and ambitions.

“It’s a labor of love,” Ruiz said.

The pair landed on the concept of an ice cream shop after being inspired by a shop in California called Wanderlust, which Meyer said allows people to explore the world through ice cream. The pair wanted to do the same, but with a focus on New Mexico and Hispanic culture.

“It’s always been in our blood to talk about our stories, and making ice cream is also storytelling to us,” Meyer said.

The shop’s environment and artwork also tell a story. Flooded with natural light from wide windows, the 1,500-square-foot space features cozy seating and vibrant walls splashed with colorful murals.

One of the murals, completed by Meyer’s niece, Marisol Meyer-Driovínto, features a whimsical cottonwood tree spanning floor to ceiling. Another mural features a New Mexico sunset sitting upon land lined by mesas.

Meyer described the space as a “resolana,” a Spanish term used to describe an area that receives direct sunlight. Resolanas are a prominent feature in small northern New Mexico villages, Meyer said, serving as gathering places for conversation and even a little gossip.

“If people come in here and they see a little old lady having her coffee and then another comes in and they have a little bit of gossip happen, that’s a resolana,” Meyer said. “That is our New Mexican cafe, it’s not a French cafe. We’re a New Mexican sweet cafe.”

The light-filled space took months to create. The owners signed a three-year lease in November, moved into the space in February and encountered some construction delays as the new shopping center was being built.

Meyer said the process of bringing their dream to fruition was “a family affair.” Several of Meyer’s family members lent a helping hand, from installing artwork to taste-testing the ice cream and helping the couple unload an 800-pound freezer into the space.

The constant help and input from family allowed the owners to learn how to “fail fast and move on,” Meyer said.

The creamery received “a warm reception” on opening day, Meyer said. With its proximity to Coronado Elementary School, the business has become a go-to spot for parents and grandparents taking their loved ones for an after-school snack, he said.

“One day, I remember this little boy coming in with his mom, and he’s like, ‘Ugh, it was such a rough day today at school. Thank you.’ Like he needed that,” Ruiz said.

Meyer added, “These little kids are genuinely adorable. They come and they hop up and down.”

Ruiz joked that at least they know the counters are sturdy by how well they’ve been tested by the kids jumping up to see the ice cream flavors.

Seeing familiar faces return to the shop already has been “very fulfilling,” Meyer said. The owners envision Cottonwood Creamery & Cookies as a place that will be a part of the community in a way that allows the owners to see the same kids grow old and have friendly conversations with the same FedEx drivers for years to come.

“I think that’s the main goal: to be present here,” Ruiz said.