Before the paper came down off the windows in March, the neighbourhood was abuzz. What used to be a convenience store, on the corner of East Hastings and Gilmore, was going through a transformation. The lives of Roberta LaQuaglia, operations manager of the Vancouver Farmers Market, and her husband Ron were transforming, too, as they planned and built their first business.
They thought their plates were full, but they soon discovered theres always room for pie and ice cream. Especially when you own an ice cream shop.
The neighbourhood couple has opened Glenburn Soda Fountain and Confectionary in North Burnaby. The stools at the counter spin, and the chrome of the refurbished 1930s soda fountain sparkles. The menu features traditional treats such as malts, floats, rickeys, and egg creams in three styles Brooklyn, San Francisco or Manhattan. And just like the olden times, phosphate can be added to any drink to make it more tart and enhance the flavour.
There are also more familiar treats such as shakes, scoops, sundaes and splits on the menu, but they all have a local connection. Roberta has used her 10 years with the farmers markets organizing the daily operations of all six farmers markets, recruiting new vendors, working with the city and parks boards to secure locations and manage a staff of 20 to learn whats tastiest in the Lower Mainland and create a menu thats not only nostalgic but celebrates the bounty of local food at our fingertips.
Ive seen first-hand the success of local food and local producers, says Roberta. The freshness and quality makes such a huge difference in the taste, but also help us to create a sustainable business for ourselves and our community.
The Glenburn Soda Fountain has relationships with many local producers. The pie is from The Pie Hole, who have competed in the farmers markets annual pie contest. Some of the soda syrups are from Frost Bites, a Whistler company that uses local and seasonal ingredients when they can, and which is usually found at one of the six farmers markets in Vancouver.
In March, their first month, Roberta and Ron ordered 90 pails of ice cream 1,026 litres of flavours from Birchwood Dairy in Abbotsford. Like Avalon Dairy, which supplies their milk, its a small-scale local company.
We use so much milk and ice cream that we really can make a difference to a small producer. Even our deliveryman is an independent contractor and he appreciates the new business, too, says Roberta.
The sundae sauces are all made from scratch by Roberta. While the hot fudge has easily been the runaway hit, the butterscotch, wet walnuts, and her favourite peanut butter sauce are all perfect in milkshakes and on top of sundaes. Peanut butter sauce on chocolate ice cream, yes please.
Every week theres a feature menu item that showcases whats freshest for the season. Most recently, The Fraser Valley Parfait tempted everyone with organic blueberries from Forstbauer Farms in Chilliwack, and hazelnuts from Canadian Hazelnuts in Agassiz.
For those on Twitter and Facebook, theres a constant feed of tempting treats and featured items to keep track of like the recent addition of brownies and cookies from The Last Crumb on Main Street. For those in the neighbourhood, theres the sweet sounds of stories being shared over pie and coffee, while the scrumptious scent of hot fudge wafts down the street.
They first came up with the idea for a soda fountain when searching the Burnaby and Vancouver archives looking for pictures of soda fountains and ice cream shops. They discovered a local dairy right in their neighbourhood The Glenburn Dairy at the corner of Boundary and Hastings and were inspired to create an ice cream shop of their own. They printed the photographs of the dairy and eight months later they now get plenty of attention hanging on the shops walls.
One of the best parts of our day is when our neighbours come in the shop for a treat and share with us their memories of the Glenburn Dairy and this neighbourhood when they were young, says Roberta. Ive learned so much about my neighbourhood and have gotten to know my neighbours so much better.
If you remember the Glenburn Dairy, Roberta and Ron would love to hear about it.
