Why is Tyra Banks serving ice cream in D.C.? Here’s the deal.

Tyra Banks, a renowned model and television personality, has opened her first bricks-and-mortar ice cream shop, Smize & Dream, in Woodley Park, Washington D.C. The pop-up, located at 2653 Connecticut Ave. NW, is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Banks founded Smize & Dream during the pandemic, initially selling prepackaged pints in Los Angeles before opening a pop-up in Dubai last year. The shop has a unique aesthetic, with bright yellow stairs leading down to a black-painted brick room featuring the brand's heart-and-eye logo. Banks says she's heavily involved in the business, which is dedicated to her mother, Carolyn, who worked two jobs to afford a move from a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles. The menu is organized into three "flavor zones": comfort, curious, and crazy, with a rotating weekly flavor teased on Instagram every Tuesday and available in the shop every Wednesday. Each order comes with a "smize surprize," a truffle hidden at the bottom of the cup or cone. Banks plans to run the pop-up through Sept. 20, but it may become permanent if successful. She also intends to visit the shop regularly, with hints about her appearances posted on the shop's Instagram. The name "Smize & Dream" is a nod to Banks's "America's Next Top Model" career, where she often advised competitors to "smize," or smile with their eyes. Banks also plans to launch a nonprofit ice cream and entrepreneurial learning center in D.C., which will educate underserved youths about the science and selling of the ice cream industry, as well as front- and back-of-house jobs in the hospitality industry.