A quick stop to grab gelato during a vacation in Italy inspired a husband and wife to bring open a business in Gastonia focusing on serving frozen desserts from all the places they’ve visited.
“We love traveling, and I always wish I could bring people with me or bring something back for them to try,” said Chlarissa Harrison. “We had the idea to do this for a while and decided that now was the time to do so.”
She and her husband, Coy Harrison, want to focus on selling tasty desserts with an emphasis on sweetness. Their shop, Xcite’s Sweet Connections, is set to open at noon Saturday, June 16, and is located at 1206 S. York St., next to Fine and Fancy Flowers.
“I’m from Arkansas and we love everything sweet,” said Chlarissa Harrison. “I spent a year working on these recipes to make sure that they were good enough to serve a Southern crowd.”
The store will specialize in serving Thai ice cream rolls, which are also known as stir-fried ice cream. To make the rolls, milk is poured on an ice grill and mixed with fruit and different ingredients. The rolls are made to order.
The Harrisons are working with a vendor who makes authentic Italian gelato and sorbetto from home to guarantee that they only serve the best-tasting desserts.
“On our week-long trip, we stopped into the gelato place about three times,” said Chlarissa Harrison. “The gelato tasted like nothing I’ve ever gotten in the United States. It was so good.”
The Harrisons will also be serving Taiwanese shaved snow cream which uses a special machine that shaves ice into paper-thin ribbons or shreds. It will be available in different flavors such as vanilla, matcha green tea and taro.
The couple said they want their business to be a place people can relax and escape from everything negative going on in the world.
“That’s why our theme inside our business is ‘the beach,'” said Chlarissa Harrison. “We want people to be happy and feel comfortable when they stop in for a treat. We want to bring people together and encourage them to talk and get to know each other.”
Demetria Mosley can be reached at 704-869-1817 or on twitter @DemetriaMosley.
A link to the original article can be found here: Gastonia shop serves desserts from around the world