Ice3 finds one way to keep an ice cream food truck afloat through winter

We’ve already written about how hard it is to turn a profit on a food truck. And that’s without the impossibility of selling gourmet ice cream after Chicago turns to tundra. With winter on its way, Erika Stone-Miller is moving her Ice3 ice cream truck indoors and out of the freezer section. Instead, she’ll expand her repertoire, launching a winter underground dining project called “The Octagon Mode.”

Stone-Miller will take advantage of the would-be Ice3 storefront at 1509 W. Lawrence Ave. that we wrote about in June, using it to house her supper club. The ticket-only project is BYO and will serve up nightly dinners for 18 to 30 guests at $100 a seat. Diners who share an interesting fact can get a $15 knocked off their bill. “Ice Cubed is thriving and growing like mad, but as a truck, it is a warm weather business,” Stone-Miller says. “Instead of going into grocery stores or having an ice cream shop in the freezing months I wanted to warm things up a bit and do something creative/fun in our fantastic space on Lawrence Ave.”

Though the program won’t launch until Oct. 11, diners can make reservations starting today at theoctagonmode.com.