Joyce and Tom Knuth, together with Joyce’s son, John Morales, are bringing something cool to Oneonta.
The family launched Tom’s Chill Zone, an Italian ice shop at 261 Main St. Suite 8 in Oneonta, in May.
Joyce Knuth, who also owns Denim & Diamonds Hair Salon, said, as a Manhattan native, Italian ice is nostalgic for her.
“We had property up here, so ended up moving in 2008, and this got inspired about 10 years ago,” she said. “This place was inspired by my husband. My husband and I decided, in order to promote Denim & Diamonds (opened in 2010), we would do the Italian ice at fairs. We came up with the idea because we grew up eating Italian ice; every corner in the city had some kind of pushcart or storefront and Oneonta, that I know of, has never had that. (Vending at fairs) got to the point where we decided it was maybe time to open up a storefront, so we had our soft opening May 18.”
A grand-opening event, Knuth said, will be announced soon.
Tom’s Chill Zone offerings, she said, are diverse.
“We get (the Italian ice) from a vendor, but our goal is to produce our own; maybe not this season, but by next,” she said. “Then we want to be able to have a menu of other products created from Italian ice; there’s so many other products and dessert ideas you can create from Italian ice.
“Right now, because we just opened, we’re still moving forward with adding different things,” Knuth continued. “But, so far, watermelon and mango have been very popular and we have all the traditional ones: coconut, lemon, cherry, rainbow, blueberry and blue raspberry; that’s always popular among the children. And it’s not just an Italian ice shop only; some adults will come in and want a beverage instead of Italian ice, so we can make them an iceberg, and that’s seltzer or flavored seltzer with lemon and lemon Italian ice and you blend it and have a scoop of whatever flavor Italian ice you want on top. That is so refreshing and cooling and it is delicious.”
At the time of the interview, Tom’s Chill Zone was carrying eight Italian ice flavors.
Customers, Knuth said, have represented a mix.
“So far, locals have been great and we’ve had a lot of baseball families in here,” she said. “The customer base we’ve seen on the daily has been more baseball and Oneonta kids. The good thing about here is that you can sit outside or inside, so it’s very accommodating, the location.”
Knuth said she’s especially happy to be offering Oneontans something different.
“The feedback from the community has been great,” she said. “I talk to many of my clients at the (salon) and they’re excited, every time I mention it, and they do come over. We would like for the community to embrace a new business offering a different type of product.
“It’s a product that you don’t normally see here,” Knuth continued. “Ice cream is great and I love ice cream, but it’s not as cool and refreshing on a 90-degree day. This will actually cool you down, and many of the people I’ve spoken to do remember Italian ice from when they were younger.”
Tom’s Chill Zone is open from 1 to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 6 on Saturday. The shop, Knuth said, will operate seasonally, likely closing from December through March.
For more information, find “Tom’s Chill Zone” on Facebook or follow @toms_chill_zone on Instagram.