Made in the Hudson Valley: Tarrytown's Main Street Sweets celebrates 25 years of homemade ice cream
Right off the Hudson River is summertime staple Main Street Sweets, an ice cream and dessert shop offering a taste of Tarrytown for the past quarter of a century.
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Right off the Hudson River is summertime staple Main Street Sweets, an ice cream and dessert shop offering a taste of Tarrytown for the past quarter of a century.
"A lot of families send their children here after school," said Corie Buonanno, one of the co-owners of Main Street Sweets. "It's like a safe space."
It's been 25 years since her mother, Kathy Buonanno, opened the shop in the heart of the town, changing the course for businesses in the area.
"I think we've really glorified the street, because this wasn't a hustle and bustle street at the time," said Kathy. "We fixed that."
Now the co-owned with her husband, children and their families, the shop has become a family affair. Three generations now come together to hand-make their own ice cream with lots of love and care.
"Our family gets involved," said Corie. "My brother has a flavor. My sister has a flavor. The kids come in and create their own...as well as customers. If they have requests, my sister's quite creative and handy with making your recipes."
Her sister and Kathy's other daughter, Marlaina Bertolacci, are the mastermind behind the shop's new flavors. Whether it's for a special event, a holiday or just a new creation that popped into her mind, she can be found in the basement below the shop, mixing everything together to find that perfect flavor.
"All of our creams and sugars go in first, and then our flavors, depending on what we make," said Bertolacci. "If we're doing like a banana ice cream, we'll put fresh bananas…and then we hand mix all the toppings...Sometimes we're here at midnight. Sometimes we're here in the morning, but whenever it needs to get done, it gets done...we sleep all winter and then stay up the rest of the time."
"We're like bears," Corie added.
After 25 years, matriarch Kathy is proud of how far Main Street Sweets has come, with the family attributing their success to the support from the community.
"I remember the very first day when we opened," she said. "We were all behind the counter and waiting for our first customer, and when that first customer came in, we were like, 'What are we going to do? How do we do this?'...and I'm really proud of what the girls have done."
"People have gotten engaged at our location and come back to celebrate special events like that," added Corie.
"Lots of babies' first cones," said Bertolacci.
Main Street Sweets is located at 35 Main Street in Tarrytown.
