COOL TREATS
DAVE'S GOURMET PALETAS PLANS NEW SHELTON LOCATION
The former Rita’s Ice in Shelton will be home to a new frozen dessert this spring, when Dave’s Gourmet Paletas opens its second store in the River Road space.
Owner Dave Rock says he’s aiming for a March debut for the shop specializing in Mexican ice pops, less than a year after he opened his inaugural location in Fairfield. The Post Road business, which opened shortly before Memorial Day, quickly gained a loyal following for the hand-crafted treats, available in dozens of gourmet flavors and customized with dips, drizzles and toppings.
“We’re going to go for it,” Rock said, describing the new space as “really awesome.” At 783 River Road, the soon-to-be second Dave’s is next door to Donut Crazy and across the street from SportsCenter of Connecticut, a sporting entertainment center with golf, laser tag, hockey rinks, bowling and other family-friendly activities.
Rock said he’s been looking for additional locations for the past few months, as he’s looking to set up a commissary space where his chef, Christina Victoria, could handle paleta production for more than one store. The Shelton kitchen is twice the size of his Fairfield store’s, he said, and he believes it could accommodate production for multiple shops as he looks toward future expansion.
The Dave’s Gourmet menu features handmade, preservative-free flavors, ranging from classics like strawberry, chocolate and coconut to more exotic choices like mango chamoy, matcha, banana Nutella and passion fruit. Rock said he and the team have swapped out seven new flavors every few months, and recent seasonal treats have included sugar cookie, peppermint white chocolate and eggnog paletas. Gluten-free and dairyfree flavors are available.
From there, you can customize your paleta with more decadence. Once you’ve picked your flavor, you can have it dipped in chocolate (white or dark) and topped with garnishes: coconut, graham cracker, pretzels, Oreo, nuts, sprinkles. Drizzles of caramel, butterscotch and Nutella are also available.
Marshmallow fluff, a new topping, has been an instant hit, especially with kids, Rock said. The Dave’s team spreads the fluff on the paleta and carefully brûlées it with a blowtorch, creating a toasty s’mores-type consistency.
Paletas start at $5.50 apiece, and dips and toppings are 50 cents apiece.
Families are a large part of the shop’s business, but Rock said local college students are slowly discovering the shop in recent months, since the 2020-2021 school year had ended just before Dave’s debuted on Post Road. The store is about a mile and a half from Fairfield University’s campus.
When Rock announced plans for the newest location on Dave’s social media pages Sunday, “it was like ‘Bam,’ and a lot of people [shared it] on Facebook,” he said. “I think the people are excited in Shelton. Hopefully it’s a long, long relationship.”