HI! We’re Corey and Lori, the couple behind alter ice cream in Old Towne Petersburg.

Before alter, there was Euterra: our chef-driven pop-up dinner series built around seasonal cooking, foraged ingredients, and the kind of food that feels deeply connected to place. Corey was in the kitchen, Lori was in the front of the house, and together we kept dreaming about creating a permanent home for that work.

Eventually, we found that home in a historic building on West Tabb Street in Petersburg. We bought it with the dream of one day opening Euterra as a neighborhood restaurant, then started the long process of bringing the building back to life. Somewhere between renovation dust, big plans, and the reality of what it takes to build out a full restaurant, we returned to another dream we had carried for years: opening an ice cream shop.

alter became the first step.

The name came from something simple we love about ice cream: it can change your mood almost instantly. A cone in your hand can soften a hard day, brighten a walk down the street, or turn an ordinary afternoon into something memorable. Alter is also our sweet, playful alter ego: a place where the same care, technique, and curiosity behind Euterra could show up in scoops, swirls, espresso, affogatos, and flavors that come and go with the seasons.

Our ice cream is small-batch, super-premium, and made with intention. Corey brings years of chef and pastry experience to the batch freezer, and we make it all from scratch in house: waffle cones, sauces, toppings, caramel, mallow fluff, whipped cream, curds, inclusions, and whatever else a flavor asks of us. We use high-quality local dairy, work with ingredients we love, and often draw from the garden, local farms, and the Wilds of Virginia.

Our flavors are ever changing. Some are nostalgic, some are strange in the best way, and some are little love letters to family, memory, travel, art, or the season at hand. You might find flavors like rosemary and feral figs, limoncello cannoli or grilled plum, koji and wild shisho leaf ; Whatever feels fun and delicious.

Coffee is part of the story, too. We serve espresso drinks and affogatos because we love the ritual of coffee and the way it pairs with ice cream. It also keeps a little Italian thread running through the shop, from Corey’s family history to the joy of a simple affogato done well.

We designed alter to feel like us: a little whimsical, a little off-center, playful, handmade, and full of details. From the checkered floors and pressed tin ceilings to the artwork and the “alt wall,” the space reflects the care we’ve poured into this building and this city.

For us, alter is about more than dessert. It is about craft, hospitality, Petersburg, and the small magic of making something by hand and sharing it with people. It is a scoop shop, an espresso stop, a creative outlet, and a first glimpse of the bigger dream we are still building.

We’re Corey and Lori, with Hawthorne often somewhere nearby, and this is our little corner of Old Towne: scoops, espresso, affogatos, fleeting flavors, and a place to alter your mood.