Lifelong ice cream fan Melissa Corredor recently made her sweet dream a reality when she opened The Coastal Creamery in West Palm Beach.
The new ice cream shop officially opened on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 1800 Forest Hill Boulevard with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was attended by the mayor of nearby Lake Clarke Shores Christy Maasbach and several town council members.
Corredor practically grew up in the restaurant business while working alongside her sisters and her mother at Dontee's Diner in West Palm Beach. Her mother founded the hugely popular local landmark in 1990 and has owned and operated it ever since.
Though the name, look and even logo for the new ice cream shop are so perfect that one might guess it was a franchise, it's not. This beautiful
new restaurant is Corredor's baby all the way. "I've been working on it for a few years, I came up with everything on my own... Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to do it," she said.
This new bastion of ice-cold, sweet goodness features more than two dozen flavors of ice cream made by Palm Beach County's ice cream legends The Ice Cream Club. Their ice cream has an ultra-creamy richness courtesy of 14% butterfat, but it's Corredor who has assembled the all-star lineup of flavors.
With all the traditional bases are covered (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, pistachio and more), she's also gone outside the box and into the fun zone with '"C" is for Cookie,' a beautiful bright blue ode to Sesame Street's favorite cookie afficionado that features cookie dough pieces and crushed cookies; 'Superman,' vanilla ice cream in vibrant red, yellow and blue colors that's beloved by kids; and the wildly popular 'Insta Graham,' featuring graham cracker-flavored ice cream with honey graham cracker crumbles and dark chocolate covered waffle cone pieces.
"I incorporate a couple of fun ones for the kids… and then the adults gravitate towards them."
To that end and speaking specifically about the '"C" is for Cookie" flavor Corredor said "Everyone's mouths leave here blue — lips and everything."
The Coastal Creamery offers their ice cream in shakes, cups and waffle cones that they make on site. "We make them out front. It makes it smell like heaven," she said.
Corredor found her ice cream passion and cultivated her creativity while working at Dontee's, where she invented a 'pie in a milkshake' concept that she has carried over to The Coastal Creamery.
The shop features eight different pies delivered daily from Lake Worth Beach bakers Upper Crust and guests can enjoy them by the slice, heated with a scoop of ice cream and, yes, in a milkshake. "The opportunities are endless. Whatever they want, we can make it happen."
It's those new milkshakes, however, with a slice of pie literally blended into them, that are already grabbing people's attention. "I sold out of all of my pumpkin pie this weekend because of the shakes."
Chocolate cream pie mixed with Rocky Road and pecan pie in vanilla are popular combinations, but Corredor recommends pumpkin pie and vanilla ice cream with a dash of cinnamon on the whipped cream on top as the perfect introduction into the world of pie and ice cream milkshakes.
She has a lot more tricks up her sleeve, "This week I'm starting ice cream nachos with waffle (cone) chips."
Corredor said her passion for this timeless frozen treat and some of her first ice cream memories are from early childhood. Whenever she or one of her sisters would lose a tooth her mother would take them to get a scoop of ice cream, she said.
"My mom started that when we were little, we used to go to Carvel. That tradition really stuck with us," she said.
Corredor is keeping that tradition alive and offers a free scoop of ice cream for every tooth lost. She then paused, clarifying "for kids."
Corredor's creativity was sparked early as well. One of her favorite treats was a concoction she would make with her mother at home. Brace yourself.
The pair would take a pint of Häagen-Daz, remove ice cream from the container whole and still rather solid and cut it horizontally into slices. Then they'd spread slightly molten peanut butter between each slice and refreeze.
Could a variation of this make it to the menu at The Coastal Creamery one day? Asking for a friend.
The Coastal Creamery, West Palm Beach
Where: 1800 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday; 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Information: 561-247-7160; thecoastalcreamery.com instagram.com/thecoastalcreamery
Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at eritz@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Beat the heat with new ice cream shop where ice cream and pie meet
