Business & Tech

Pizza Coming to Whistler's

Noted ice cream stand adding pizza to the menu

AVON -- There's very little screaming for ice cream in December.

That can make business slow this time of year at Whistler's Ice Cream Shop on Detroit Road by Olde Avon Village. So owners Nick and Theresa Rak are expanding the business to include a dish that's loved all year round.

Work continues inside the shop to finish the new kitchen space complete with a wood-fired pizza oven.

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The pizza part of the business will be called the Pizza Rak.

Adding on to the existing 1930s building, originally an auto shop called Casper's Garage, was done as part of repairs the building needed after it was hit by car in late 2009.

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Close to 600 square feet of space was added to the kitchen, Nick Rak said. He has done a lot of the work between his shifts as an Avon firefighter.

Firewood for the pizza oven will be stacked alontg the outside wall of the addition, Nick said, providing storage as well as an interesting look to the building.

Nick said he expects the work on the kitchen to be done by the end of December. Then it's on to designing the menu and planning marketing and advertising.

"This was the easy part," he joked on Thursday after doing some work on the roof. "I can work with my hands, but I'm not a marketing guy."

He also plans on spending January learning how to use the wood-fired oven and perfecting his pizza recipe in it.

"I'm a thin-crust guy," he said. "And that's what wood-fired ovens are made for."

Nick said his pizzas will be made with fresh ingredients, not stuff from big industrial food-supply businesses.

"I want my pizzas to stand out," he said.


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