On Orchard Street, Gelato Messina and Studio Jeremyville turn a sundae into a reason to linger.
Gelato Messina is one of Australia’s most celebrated dessert brands. Founded in Sydney in 2002, it now has more than 38 stores across Australia and Asia. This month it marks its North American debut. Softville, on Orchard Street, is a collaboration with New York’s Studio Jeremyville, and it arrives as the city’s buzziest dining rooms making art the draw.
A de Kooning might hang beside your table at Marcel, inside Sotheby’s. Oberon keeps its bar open at the New Museum until 1 am, long after the galleries close. Those rooms come with a serious check. Softville offers art and dessert for the price of a sundae, with drawing clubs and workshops set to give visitors a place to make something themselves.
Five Senses, One Address
Softville hits you with all five senses, and it starts before you see anything. The aroma of freshly baked desserts meets you the moment you walk through the door.
Then the room comes into focus. Studio Jeremyville’s eye-catching art covers the walls, and the studio’s sculptures occupy the room. The building’s original 1920s curved glass storefront frames it all from the street. Interior designer Sarah Carpenter worked alongside the studio, so the space reads more like a gallery than a shop, with collectible ceramics and design objects placed throughout. My first impression was that it is a whimsical escape from the city just outside.
The kitchen is open. You can see and hear things in motion: batters going into ovens, toppings being made, soft serve coming off the machine. During my visit, a chef from Australia was training the New York team. Seeing that exchange made the connection to Messina feel immediate; the techniques were being passed on right there in the kitchen.
Messina applies its gelato-making technique to soft serve, and you can taste the difference. You build your own or order one of their takes on the classics. The Pavlova is layered with meringue. The Piña Colada comes with upside-down pineapple cake. The Dulce de Leche arrives with hot cinnamon churros. The toppings bar is all made in-house: red velvet cake, chocolate chip cookies, crumbles, granola. I built mine on a red velvet cake base, topped with their take on hazelnut gelato and more baked goods than I should admit. The pleasure is in the texture. Creamy gelato gives way to crunchy crumbles, fresh fruits, then soft, moist cake. Each spoonful lands a little differently.
Nothing Overlooked
Studio Jeremyville has painted murals in Messina’s stores since the Australian brand’s early days. The thought behind this particular collaboration runs two decades deep and has found its perfect home in this LES neighborhood, already shaped by art and food. Every detail is considered and it shows, right down to the milk, which comes fresh from Ronnybrook Farm Dairy in the Hudson Valley. Pastry chef Eva Wintersteen, formerly of the Il Buco family and Supermoon Bakehouse, develops the rotating specials with the Messina team.
Some of the art can come home with you. Sculptural bowls are available to purchase as art, alongside merchandise bearing Jeremyville’s work and pieces involving rotating artists. The evolving sundae series carries the dessert theme into the artwork. Even the takeaway bag makes eye contact.
Room to Linger
At 2,500 square feet, the space has room for events and a crowd. But what made me want to stay was the hospitality. The welcome was warm, and the team took time to walk me through what they were building. For a format that could easily be grab-and-go, it felt inviting and unhurried. You’re meant to stay a while.
That matters in New York, where getting someone through the door is only part of the challenge. What makes them go out of their way—and actually stay? Here, I could see a few reasons: the kitchen at work, artwork to explore, and a dessert you can assemble to your own taste. Creative Director & Co-Founder Megan Mair stated, “Softville is about creating a space where people can gather, experience creativity in unexpected ways, and leave feeling inspired.”
The Softville Creative Club will add drawing clubs and workshops led by Jeremyville and guest artists. It gives the space another use and visitors another reason to return. I’m interested in seeing how that develops: a room that already feels welcoming, with something people can do together.
The Verdict
The Experiencer question is always whether an experience is worth having. This one is. Come for the soft serve, stay for the room, and come back when the Creative Club begins.
Softville
137 Orchard Street, between Rivington and Delancey
Lower East Side, New York City
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