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Suzy Sno co-owner Rabia Kamara (with fellow owner and fiance Bakari Ruggiero in the background) serves up a sno-ball. (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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Suzy Sno is relocating to 3423 W. Cary St. in Carytown. (Photo courtesy Suzy Sno)
The New Orleans-inspired sno-ball concept Suzy Sno has had quite an unpredictable first year of business.
Debuting the shop’s original location in November 2021, owners and fiances Rabia Kamara and Bakari Ruggiero ran into a series of issues with their building and leaseholder that forced the pair to bid farewell to their Jackson Ward shop and fellow co-owners Tiara and Kris Russell.
Following a brief hiatus, the partners packed up their frosty venture and temporarily settled into the former Sweet 95 space on Arthur Ashe Boulevard in August. Months later, the North Side building — owned by restaurateurs Johnny and Katrina Giavos — closed along with the adjacent Kitchen 64, now home to a new location of Brick House Diner.
Taking a cue from “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” Kamara and Ruggiero are hoping this third location is just right. Suzy Sno will reopen in Carytown at the beginning of March, taking over the former Tipsy Cupcakes RVA shop at 3423 W. Cary St. The shop plans to start serving cool concoctions just in time for the return of Richmond Black Restaurant Experience (March 5-12).
“As someone who went to college here and moved back, and Bakari, who has been here his whole life, we all know Carytown is great, with a lot of walkability, a lot of festivals and action, and it’s an opportunity for us to really be a part of an area that allows us to grow,” says Kamara, also co-owner with Ruggiero of the ice cream shop Ruby Scoops in Brookland Park.
Suzy Sno is inspired by a longstanding sno-ball purveyor in New Orleans, a favorite destination for the duo. The machine behind the magic is a blue Ortolano SnoWizard, invented in 1936. Shaving blocks of ice until they’re fine and fluffy — in comparison to the chunky granules of snow cones —the SnoWizard produces the perfect porous foundation for soaking up the accompanying flavored syrups.
The menu at Suzy Sno features over 60 house-made organic syrups, from blue raspberry to root beer, with toppings such as condensed milk, marshmallow fluff or candies available. House specialties include a New Orleans favorite, Tiger’s Blood, a fruity option with watermelon, strawberry and hints of coconut. Kamara says they also plan to introduce a sno-ball named for and inspired by the new neighborhood. They also hope to introduce baked goods to the menu.
Fresh off a recent trip to the Big Easy, complete with a swamp tour, barbecue-shrimp cooking class and tour of the Sazerac House, Kamara says the adventure was the shot of energy and inspiration she and Ruggiero needed — with plenty of photos for the vision board.
“We want it to feel like our favorite place, but away from there,” she says.
Kamara says they plan to paint the inside of the 1,400-square-foot shop bright blue, and it will have a similar feel to their former Jackson Ward space, with the addition of wrought iron elements — a nod to the iconic French Quarter architecture in New Orleans.
Despite navigating the moves, Kamara says owning multiple businesses during the pandemic taught her how to adapt. The Virginia Commonwealth University graduate adds with enthusiasm that “threes have been going well” for her.
Kamara moved back to Richmond in March 2020, the third month of the year. During her third appearance on Food Network she won the ice cream-making competition “Ben & Jerry’s: Clash of the Cones.” The forthcoming Suzy Sno location marks the third in the mix, and the couple has signed a three-year lease with negotiations handled by Nathan Hughes and Veronica Wiles of Sperity Real Estate Ventures.
“I hope this last move is our best move,” Kamara says. “I think the fact that we have a three-year lease, we can really make it our space, and it can feel like it, and look like it, and we’re excited to be in Carytown and be a part of that neighborhood. I don’t know how many Black-owned businesses there are in Carytown, so that is also really exciting for us.”
In the meantime, Ruby Scoops is also going through its own changes. The shop is still open in its original location, but the owners have signed a lease for 310 W. Brookland Park Blvd., two blocks from the current storefront, that will provide more space, including a patio. Eyeing a winter opening, Kamara says the kitchen at the new location will double as a commissary space that will prioritize Black, Brown and female confectioners.
Suzy Sno will be open Thursday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
