Class 302, Popular Taiwanese 'Shaved Snow' Restaurant, Planned for Irvine

Flickr User Lynn Friedman

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Rowland Heights' Class 302, arguably the restaurant that put the uniquely Taiwanese dessert called shaved snow on the map and everyone's consciousness (at least if you live or play in the San Gabriel Valley), is planning a store in Irvine at University Park Center, which you may already know as the plaza to go to for Wholesome Choice and its sangak bread.
Shaved snow, for those uninitiated, isn't shaved ice. It starts as a block of flavored frozen milk, which is planed by blade into long, ribbon-like sheets that are fluffy, airy and absent ice's granular crunch. This becomes the base for toppings of sugary beans, peanuts, fudge or fruit. Currently, there are already a few Orange County eateries that have filled the shaved snow demand, including Balcony Grill & Bar and I-Tea Cafe, but when it opens, Class 302 will undoubtedly be OC's new benchmark.

The Rowland Heights original is also well-known for its classroom theme. Menu items are scribbled with chalk on wall-length blackboards. The tables are repurposed school desks. And the food, such as pork chop rice, is packed into metal lunch tins.
 
Counting 85°C Bakery Cafe, Chef Hung, the recent opening of Boiling Point and a few other Taiwanese places, and now this, the cuisine of the former island of Formosa is fast becoming well-represented in Irvine. All we're missing is Din Tai Fung. Hint, hint.

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