Ice cream with an Aussie accent: Van Leeuwen joins the BBQ
Here's a good one. Some of the best ice cream in New York — the stuff with queues out the door and the yellow trucks you've definitely walked past — was co-founded by an Australian. And this August, she's bringing it to the Big Aussie BBQ.
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is coming to Rockefeller Park, and we could not be more chuffed.
A first for the barbie
Here's the thing: four barbecues in, and we have never once had ice cream at the Big Aussie BBQ. Not a scoop. Which, in hindsight, is a bit of an oversight for a free outdoor party in the middle of a New York August.
So this is a first — and honestly, it's the perfect fit. A hot afternoon in the park, a few thousand Aussies, kids running riot on the grass, and now something cold in hand. It's the bit of the day we didn't know was missing.
It started in a Greenpoint kitchen
Back in 2008, Laura O'Neill and brothers Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen spotted a gap in the market: ice cream trucks that actually scooped good ice cream, made with good ingredients. So they did what you do — started working out their own recipes in the kitchen of their shared Greenpoint, Brooklyn apartment.
By the spring of that year, they were selling it out of a single yellow ice cream truck.
The ice cream is French-style, which means more than double the egg yolks of your standard ice cream. It's rich, it's ridiculous, and it found a loyal following fast. Today Van Leeuwen has over 100 company-owned scoop shops across the country, with tubs in grocery stores nationwide. This year they've begun opening stores in South Korea, and started serving fro-yo at many of their shops too.
The Melbourne connection
Laura was born and raised in Melbourne and moved to New York in 2007 — a year before the truck. She brought together a background in event production and a real passion for good food and design, and built Van Leeuwen from an idea into the cult brand it is today, overseeing brand growth, marketing, and the creative direction of the lot.
She's been on the cover of Inc. Magazine, named to Inc's Female Founders 250 list, the Inc. 5000, and the 2026 Cherry Bombe Power List. She's been profiled by Fast Company, The Today Show, Cherry Bombe, Forbes and The Australian Financial Review. She sits on City Harvest's Food Council, and co-wrote The Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream cookbook. These days she splits her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives with her partner, their daughter and their cat.
Why this one means a lot
An Aussie builds something extraordinary a long way from home, then turns around and gets stuck into a free, family-friendly barbecue in a park. We're very grateful.
She also knows exactly who she's scooping for:
We will be sure to include honeycomb in the lineup (or hokey pokey as we call it in Australia!)
We did not have to ask twice.
Ice cream on the day
Van Leeuwen will be scooping at the Big Aussie BBQ on Saturday, August 15, 2026 at Rockefeller Park. Snags on the grill, cold drinks, backyard games — and now proper ice cream in the middle of a New York summer afternoon.
Bring the kids. Bring a serviette.