It’s one of those eternal trivial questions—is more ice cream really sold during the winter? Perhaps Smitten Ice Cream knows something, having opened up its second shop right before Christmas. Sure, the winter weather in these parts never comes close to the temps now icing up the Eastern seaboard, but there should still be an extra chill in the air, along with puffs of liquid nitrogen, thanks to Smitten’s unusual freezing technique.

The popular San Francisco-based ice cream company opened its newest spot inside the Los Altos Whole Foods market in late December. The new spot, like its sister location in SF’s Hayes Valley, dishes out ice cream that’s custom-frozen for each customer using a blast of liquid nitrogen at -321 degrees Fahrenheit. That would seem to definitively put the “ice” in cream, but that’s the thing—the process is meant to create a product that’s less “icy.” The super-low freezing point keeps ice crystals very fine, and thus makes for a smoother-textured ice cream.

Smitten serves about half a dozen flavors of ice cream, with choices like mint chip, salted caramel, chocolate and vanilla. Ingredients are organic and locally sourced. Customers can add sauces, like spicy caramel, malt syrup, chocolate sauce or other toppings like nut brittle after their ice cream order has been through the quick deep freeze.

Another shop is planned to open in the East Bay.