| Annabelle's
Natural Ice Cream, Portsmouth's own famed frozen dessert,
has changed hands. The new owner, however, says the recipes,
the taste and the atmosphere will stay the same.
"Back in the days when you walked into an ice cream shop
and you could smell the hot fudge. I used to dream of having
an ice cream parlor," said Lewis E. Palosky, the new owner
and president of Annabelle's, "this is going to be fun. That's
why I got into the business.'
Palosky, who owns the building at Market St., along with
Eye Contact Unlimited, bought Annabelle's trade name, recipes,
equipment and 'distributorship about six weeks ago. Palosky
bought the business which employs 15-18 people, from Alex
David, who opened the 49 Ceres St. shop in the early 1980’s.
Annabelle's, which has been closed for the winter, will open
for business Wednesday morning.
David could not be reached for comment, and Palosky declined
to comment on why David wanted to sell his business. Palosky,
who was David's landlord, said he heard he wanted to get out
of the business and it was an opportunity the optometrist
couldn’t pass up.
"Alex did such a good job, I think it would be suicide trying
to change anything" Palosky said. "We're going to use all
the same recipes. People shouldn't notice any difference,
except we're putting in air conditioning"
One change that customers will be sure to notice are two
new flavors that are being added to the 25 that already grace
the menu board hanging above the Counter.
Don Cohen, vice president and marketing director for Annabelle's,
said the new flavors are Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
Monster and Coffee Toffee Thunder. He added that two new flavors
will be introduced each month, totaling six or eight.
Cohen also said he and Palosky will be sticking to the basics
until they get some experience under their belts.
"We're retrenching the business. We're getting it back to
it's grass roots... We want to bring it more into the 90s,"
he said. "Right now. we're learning the business. We don't
want to lick off more than we can chew."
Cohen said they will run the Ceres Street ice cream shop,
and supply Annabelle's Ice Cream to eight or ten local shops.
He declined to say if Annabelle’s would be sold in local supermarkets.
Both men said there's a lot more to learn about the Ice cream
business than just how to scoop out a perfect cone.
The Number one thing is to get them the ice cream on time
and frozen." Palosky said. "We're learning how difficult that
is. It's no small thing. The temperatures are precise. They
can only vary by a few degrees."
Palosky moved from Belmont, Mass., to Portsmouth in 1979,
opening his own Optometry office. He is known locally for
working as the eye doctor for the Hartford Whalers and the
U.S. Olympic hockey team.
Palosky added he has no interest in leaving his optometry
business behind.
"This is fun." he said down in the ice cream shop. "It's
a challenge in life but I'm going to stay with what I've been
doing."
back |
