Blazin’ a trail of sweetness on this journey of FLAVOR

Hannah Bae is the chef & noona behind Noona’s and a renowned champion & recipe developer of flavor innovation born and raised in NYC. Her Toasted Rice Ice Cream was awarded Best Flavor at NYC’s annual ice cream contest in 2016 and grew what we would best describe as an underground cult following among chefs, cheesemongers, food writers & lovers with notable names: Chef Hooni Kim, Chef Esther Choi, Author Jenny Han, the passionate humans at Eater NY, Hearst, NYT, Google, James Beard Foundation and local grocers such as the Greene Grape, Kalustyan’s, FreshDirect, Park Slope Food Coop (to name a few). Noona’s was born from this organic grassroots support, blazing a trail for bringing Asian flavors (ranging from classic to completely original) into the hearts & homes of Americans and beyond.

Search Noona’s Ice Cream, and you’ll get a taste of Bae’s work and passion for flavor. She’s mostly self-taught but has trained under chefs from NYC Michelin star establishments, in Penn State and NYU’s food science and foraging programs, consulted for younger APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) food brands, and loves to travel to different areas of the world to cook, plant and harvest with maternal home cooks (as she views herself first & foremost a home cook - emphasizing the gift in learning how to both give and receive a home cooked meal, wholeheartedly).

Despite 2016 being a time of growing appreciation for quality ice cream and interest in Asian flavors, the ice cream flavors Bae was introducing such as Toasted Rice, Turmeric Honeycomb, Yuzu, Taro, Pandan and even Black Sesame (a beloved Asian classic) were niche and still strange and too exotic to the mainstream. Fun fact: During National Ice Cream week of 2017, the TODAY show ran a segment for strangest ice cream flavors and Noona’s Toasted Rice Ice Cream was part of the lineup. Eater NY brought it on the show, because they wanted exposure for Noona’s despite the segment topic. Meanwhile, the flavor is reminiscent of a toasty waffle cone paired with grandma’s rice pudding or the best cereal milk ever. Not that strange! But sure enough, news anchor Hoda Kotb took a lick and portrayed a face that just tasted something very bizarre.

Over the years, Noona’s grew with a growing and loyal fanbase via nationwide shipping, selling pints to retail stores, hosting in-person and virtual ice cream socials and through her storefront. In March 2026, Bae closed her quaint East Village shop and hit pause on production to pursue her dream of turning Noona’s from a CPG and foodservice business into an educational and experiential channel to pass along the secrets of all things ice cream and the gift of treating yourself and others to a sweet bite. Described by Food52 as born of Proustian moments and hand-taste, Bae’s approach to food delves deep into the psyche, play, history and unquestionable joy & magic of food making and eating. Her greatest moments of Noona’s has been teaching, sparking memorable conservation and guiding people through flavor tastings. More info on her classes and offerings are coming soon. She’s also working on her first cookbook where she will include all her signature recipes from Noona’s, secrets & tips in flavor development and a ton of home recipes that she makes on the regular to express the value in the home cook and why a little sugar in your bowl can led to a greater love and happiness.