Kilwins will open in Davidson Plaza where Local Chill Ice Cream used to do business
By Jane Bartnett
Kilwins, the nationally known ice cream and chocolate emporium, is coming to Siesta Key’s Davidson Plaza on Ocean Boulevard in the Village.
The sweets shop will be opening in the home of the former Local Chill Ice Cream store. Siesta Key resident Lance Cassagnol is the owner of the new operation.
“We’re looking at a late September opening,” he said. “We hope to have all of the equipment loaded in by the end of August.”
For the Siesta Key native, the new venture is a special event.
“I grew up riding my bike through Siesta Key Village,” he said. With a background in restaurants and financial investments, he is looking forward to the new adventure and the many smiles that the new store will bring to Siesta Key visitors and residents alike.
The confectionery is known for its rich ad creamy ice creams as well as its fudge, chocolates and other sweet treats, such as caramel apples that are made by hand in the Kilwins store.
The business began in the northern lands of Michigan in 1947.
Its 25-plus varieties of Kilwins-made ice cream include such luscious and unusual flavors as blue moon, cake batter, cappuccino chocolate chip, Kilwins mud, Marsh-Mallow S’more and Traverse City cherry. Traditional flavors such as chocolate, rum raisin, butter pecan, mint chocolate chip, sorbetto-lemon and sorbetto-raspberry and strawberry chunk are also waiting to be enjoyed in a cup or a cone.
Kilwins fans also know about the internationally famous chocolates that are best-sellers.
When it comes to fudge, the Kilwins Mackinac Island Fudge takes the cake. The recipe that was created in 1948 still holds true today. It will be made in the new Siesta Key store from copper kettles, as the recipe calls for, and then placed on a marble slab where it will be hand-paddled and cut for sale.
Other not-to-be-missed tempting Kilwins fudge flavors include Turtle Fudge, Sea-Salt Caramel Fudge, Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge, Peanut Butter Fudge, Mud Fudge, Chocolate English Walnut Fudge, and Cookies n’ Cream Fudge. Also, the perfect flavor for Siesta Key: Kilwins’ Lemon Fudge.
Tempting chocolates such as Turtle Nut Caramels are also on the menu at Kilwins. Siesta Key customers will be able to find a variety of other tasty items ranging from taffy chews to what Kilwins calls its “heritage chocolate classics,” and caramel corn.
Just in time for the start of the season, the Siesta Key shop will join more than 140 Kilwins shops found in 25 states, all east of the Rocky Mountains. The tough part will be deciding to have just one scoop or two.
Author: Jane Bartnett