HOT SELLERS DANDY DON SCOOPS NEW TREAT.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - Don Whittemore stands in an industrial ice cream freezer and shivers in his Hawaiian shirt, clutching the novelty product he thinks will make his business a national player.

Chunks of ice defrost and fall from the ceiling around him yet even with its fans switched off, the freezer puts out a punishingly cold blast of frigid air.

Whittemore, owner of Dandy Don's HomeMade Ice Cream, is undeterred. In his arms he holds boxes full of his latest venture, Mikawaya mochi ice cream. He's confident that the rice-flour-coated novelties, a Japanese-American favorite produced in Los Angeles, will sell nationwide.

``It tastes like ice cream in a marshmallow,'' said Whittemore on his return to the more moderate climate of his Van Nuys offices. ``Everybody likes rice, everybody likes ice cream - why not put them together?''

Dandy Don's interest in the novelties began at the behest of one of the company's wholesale accounts at Universal CityWalk. Already a customer for Whittemore's super-premium ice cream, Japanese eatery Wasabi requested the exotically flavored treats to serve its customers after a sushi meal.

When the product's introduction at Wasabi was successful, general manager John Shay considered adding the custom ice cream to the menu of Wasabi's sister restaurant, Shanghai & Mein.

``It's an interesting texture for lots of people, especially ones who haven't tried food from Asia,'' Shay said.

``It's not just ice cream, it's a multilevel taste,'' he said. ``... It's a good alternative to the heavier desserts, especially in the summer.''

Not wanting to alienate a customer, Whittemore looked around for where he could lay his hands on the chilly desserts, which resemble pudgy, off- white hockey pucks and contain a hard layer of red bean, green tea, mango, strawberry or kona coffee ice cream within.

The search led him to Joel Friedman, secretary-treasurer of Los Angeles- based Mikawaya. His firm, a traditional Japanese pastry maker located in Little Tokyo, sold the novelties in its own retail outlets and wholesales to grocers but did not do direct sales.

Mochi ice cream may be largely unknown outside of the Asian community, but Whittemore thought he could take it beyond just Wasabi. Although he had never sold it retail, his Web site registered six times as many searches for mochi ice cream as for other products he carries. He called Friedman and proposed selling directly to consumers, billing them with Pay Pal and FedEx-ing the frozen treats to their homes.

``The whole idea of selling ice cream on the Internet is a little strange because the freight is so much, but he seemed real confident about it,'' Friedman said. ``And I'm a great believe in people with confidence.''

Numbers fuel that confidence, however.

``People around the country were looking at the Web site,'' said Linda Whittemore, the firm's president. ``We didn't realize what a hit this mochi is everywhere else.''

``They can't get it anywhere else,'' she said, ``or if they do, they have to buy such large quantities that they couldn't fit it in the freezer. These aren't big companies, just regular people like you and me.''

This latest venture won't be a big money-maker for Dandy Don's - it makes only $12 for every six-box order. The $60 shipping charge would seemingly make it prohibitively expensive, but orders have rolled in. Only two weeks after launching the site, the company's vice president of marketing, Angie Pettera, received inquiries from Illinois, Iowa and North Dakota. When customers place their order, it will be delivered and in their freezers within two days, chilled along the way with five pounds of dry ice that keeps the product's temperature at 60 degrees below zero.

Doreen Kaminski, general manager of a family-owned meat wholesaler in Chicago, ordered 12 boxes of kona coffee flavor for her Father's Day party, winning rave reviews from her dinner mates. She still keeps her freezer stocked with the desserts, sharing bites of them with her friends to make her stock last until she re-orders.

``I'm determined - when I want something, I find it,'' Kaminski said. ``My father thought that was quite insane of me, but that's OK with me. It's an interesting dessert.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (MOCHI ICE CREAM)

(2) Don Whittemore, owner of Dandy Don's HomeMade Ice Cream, holds a sample of his latest venture, Mikawaya mochi ice cream.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer