This story was updated on June 22 to correct the hours and coffee bean suppliers for the Squirrel Rabbit Coffee Bar and Creamery.
At Squirrel Rabbit Coffee Bar and Creamery, customers have options to make anyone happy — specialty coffee drinks and artisanal gelatos, sorbets and Italian ice.
All made with fresh, local ingredients.
Before owner Amy Brown’s grand opening Wednesday, she did her homework, spending weeks training at Gelato University in Dallas, where she honed skills in making authentic gelatos and sorbettos. The university, she said, is one of two in the United States and the rest are in Italy.
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“Going to the university was one of the most important things I’ve done,” Brown said in a phone interview. “Gelato can be really temperamental compared to ice cream because it doesn’t have a lot of fat or air content.
“So you need to know the formulas, and you can’t find those online. You can’t Google or YouTube it. You can only get them at Gelato University,” she said.
Squirrel Rabbit, next to Aretha Frankenstein’s, is a little neighborhood spot offering customers a cozy place to relax, read a book or socialize. A friend nicknamed Brown “Squirrel” because she’s always in motion. The shop’s name was taken from the nickname.
Squirrels could also represent coffee, she said, because they’re always jittery and jumping about. So when she thought about what animal might best represent gelato, she came up with rabbits — as they’re soft and sweet.
For now, Brown said the menu is mainly gelatos and specialty coffee drinks made using locally roasted beans by Mad Priest and New Wave Coffee Roasters, a sister company of Be Caffeinated. But she’ll soon add simple grab-and-go sandwiches and salads made with fresh ingredients. And she’s working with Be Caffeinated to offer muffins, scones, biscotti and eventually, New York-style bagels.
Brown’s journey to opening Squirrel Rabbit goes back to her 20s, working as an apprentice in several of Atlanta’s high-end restaurants, where she first began dreaming of owning her own business. The café is kind of a “jumping off” point for that, she said. She’s the one leading the show, but it’s small enough to manage as the sole owner.
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Her five-year goal, she said, would probably be to start a wood-fire pizza restaurant, another dream she’s entertained over the years.
“But I’d like to get in a full five years with the gelato shop before I do that,” she said. “I’m starting off small and seeing where the road takes me.”
Squirrel Rabbit Coffee Bar and Creamery is at 514 Tremont St. The shop is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. Squirrel Rabbit is closed Monday. The grand opening Wednesday will feature a special with $1 off coffee drinks and buy one, get one half-off gelatos.
WHAT’S GELATO?
— Gelato: Creamy dessert made with milk and sugar, similar to ice cream but denser and silkier.
— Sorbetto: Creamy, fruit-based, dairy-free dessert.
— Italian ice: Icy treat made with water and sugar.
Contact Jennifer McNally at jmcnally@timesfreepress.com.