Fountain Hills gets Snowee

Step inside the ice cream shop along Avenue of the Fountains and one is greeted by bright pastel colors, marble pink archways and a menu of Korean- and Japanese-inspired treats. As the newest ice cream shop to enter Fountain Hills, Snowee has quickly garnered a loyal following with its soft serve ice cream, shaved snow and Taiyaki, a waffle-style, fish-shaped pastry with flavors in red bean, custard, strawberry cheesecake and cinnamon, brown sugar and mozzarella cheese.

Inside, a neon sign reads, “Ice Cream Solves Everything.” Curated to perfection with a delightful menu of sweet treats, Snowee Owner John Hosoo Park wanted to bring something fun and refreshing to Fountain Hills. And while ice cream doesn’t solve quite everything, it does satisfy Park’s sweet tooth.

“A lot of my ideas and goals start from what I like to do or eat,” Park said, a former sushi chef and current owner of Oka Sushi, Snowee’s next-door neighbor. “That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to be a sushi chef, because I love sushi.”

Korean roots

Park is enthralled with the idea of being good at one thing at a time. Born and raised in Korea, he said many restaurants there focus on perfecting and serving a single signature dish.

“They have to really dissect it and be good at one thing because it’s very competitive,” Park said.

For Snowee, Park pulls from his memories as a boy in Korea enjoying Bingsu, a milk-based Korean shaved-ice dessert with sweet toppings like fresh fruit, syrup or red beans. As the owner of Snowee, Park wanted to recreate that same fresh taste in Fountain Hills.

“I want Snowee to be like Oka’s little sister,” Park said. “It doesn’t have to bring in a whole bunch of revenue, but as long as it’s something fun, people are going to cheer for it.”

For the ice cream shop’s interior, Park said he got the idea from a picture of a macaroon. He added the neon lights after he and his wife watched the hit TV series “Stranger Things.”

Fountain Hills resident, Cindy Strazis, visited Snowee with her son on Friday, Sept. 18, for some soft serve ice cream. A volunteer at Fearless Kitty Rescue, Strazis was all smiles as she enjoyed her ice cream on a muggy August day.

“It’s like being a kid again,” Strazis said.

It’s been nearly a decade since Park became a restaurant owner in Fountain Hills, adding that his very first customer still comes in to eat at his restaurant to this day.

“It’s a very rare experience. We don’t have the most population here, but I think when it comes to loyalty in general, I’m very thankful to be where I’m at,” Park said. “Our goal is to offer more at our standards and at our quality.”

Snowee is open from 12 noon to nine p.m., Monday through Saturday, with Sunday hours coming later this year. Snowee is located next to Oka Sushi at 16725 E. Avenue of the Fountains, Suite C105.

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