With temperatures dropping below – 40 C in Regina, it is unusual to see people lined up outside, let alone for ice cream. But for Daniela Mintenko, the owner of Dandy’s Artisan Ice Cream, the crowds are a welcome sight.

“When people are out the door waiting for ice cream and it’s like minus 40. It’s pretty crazy,” said Mintenko. “It felt like it was a summer day.”

Dandy’s officially opened on February 9, but into the week people like Rob Madderford and Callie Morharg have been flocking to try out the Queen City’s newest sweet treats.

“Basically as soon as I saw the sign it was a selling point for me,” said Madderford. “It’s something more local, not Dairy Queen or not a franchise or a chain.”

All of Dandy’s ice cream is hand made and hand packaged in their south Albert St. store, with the kitchen in the back dedicated to making the ice cream and its tasty ingredients such as brownies and cookies.

“Your hands are doing the whole job, that’s what makes it artisan,” said Mintenko.

The middle of February may seem like a strange time to open an ice cream shop to some, but for Mintenko, this was a deliberate move to give herself time to get comfortable with her business before the summer. She was not expecting the shop to be as popular as it is right away.

“I just want to be able to understand [the business] completely before the summer, because once the summer arrives it’s the busiest time of the year. So I will be prepared for that,” said Mintenko. “I’m kind of excited to open right now, because that way I can understand my business. I’m 26 years old, it’s my first business.”

Dandy’s currently has 11 employees, with nine dedicated to the front of house and two working in the back making ice cream and baking. Mintenko says that she is still hiring, and she thinks around 20 employees will suffice for the busy summer season.

The shop prides itself on making all its delicacies in house, and using mostly locally sourced and organic ingredients, but Canada’s cold climate makes it difficult to get some of the exotic flavours that Mintenko, who is originally from Columbia, wants to incorporate into her creations.

“Sometimes the ideas that we have will be like toasted coconut, but you guys don’t have coconuts in Canada. So that’s why it makes it kind of challenging to source something that is ethical and organic,” said Mintenko.

For Daniela, it has been a long process to try and bring her unique creations to the Queen City, going through both ice cream school at Penn State University, and a pastry arts program in Vancouver to perfect her craft.

“I wanted to make a lot of inclusions for the ice cream, because I learned that ice cream is not just flavor, but you want to put cookies and stuff like that in,” said Mintenko.

Daniela decided to set up in her husband’s hometown of Regina. Once she got to the Queen City she decided that it would be the perfect place to start her business.

“I wanted to create this home-made ice cream for Regina because you guys don’t have anything similar to that,” said Mintenko. “I just find that there are not enough places to hang out and have dessert here. A lot of places close early, so this is just a place that people can get coffee, get a nice ice cream.”

At least one customer will be back to try out more of Mintenko’s creations. Callie Morharg braved the elements to enjoy a double scoop of rosemary carmel popcorn, and blueberry pie crunch.

“This is so good, it’s better than anywhere else I’ve tried,” said Morharg.

Although the business is less than a week old, Mintenko said she would like to try to expand the Dandy’s brand either through another store in Saskatoon, or partnering with retailers to sell their pints of ice cream in their stores.

But with business booming in the middle of winter, Mintenko is optimistic that Dandy’s will attract customers in droves throughout the summer, joking that as the temperatures rise above zero, people could be lined up “around the block” to get a cool treat.