An award-winning Welsh ice cream parlour run by a mum and daughter is opening in a former park keeper's home on Penarth's seafront. Fablas Ice Cream, which already has locations in Cowbridge, Porthcawl and most recently Caerphilly by the castle, will open its fourth site on Monday, March 27 at 11am.
Fablas will be serving its creamy, award-winning artisan ice cream from the 100-year-old building formerly occupied by the park keeper. Windsor Gardens' South Lodge, which overlooks the seafront and has been standing since the late 1800s, has lost none of its charm or character with Fablas' owner enhancing the Victorian features within in the decor.
Announcing the exciting news just days ahead of it's opening on Thursday, March 23, Lauren Evans - who has run the business with her mum Michelle since 2016 - posted a series of teasing snapshots of the new store with a caption that read: "Penarth it's your turn."
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Speaking to Wales Online about her latest ice cream shop, which has been beset with delays, Lauren said: "It's been a long time coming but we're finally getting there now. It's been an uphill struggle but it's brilliant and it's finally opening and I think it's going to be a welcome asset to Penarth [and] a welcome dog-walking spot, we think. So we're hoping we're going to do very well here."
She added: "And we've got some amazing views. We've got over 20 tables going outside so we'll have over 40 covers - inside the building and outside - it's going to be incredible. And hopefully attract a lot of interest as a destination place, not just an ice cream parlour."
Serving up coffees, sweet treats - such as pancakes, knickerbockerglorys, ice cream sundaes and waffles - and of course ice cream, Lauren added how, alongside the tables outside and in, she is getting branded picnic blankets made to encourage their guests to soak up nature and enjoy their Fablas visit with an al fresco treat.
She said: "We're going to get some branded picnic blankets done so you can pay a deposit and take a picnic blanket off into the park. Because the whole point of Fablas being in the park is getting people out to view the park, view the trees, to see the sea and to have some fresh air. So, that's our plan. Ready for the summer season."
Lauren explained how the Fablas parlours are similar in terms of branding but each of the stores has its own unique feel. The Penarth shop will embrace the history and gorgeous view.
"We try to match our parlours up," she said. "They all have [similar] interior and all that, but what works in Caerphilly doesn't work in Porthcawl and what works in Porthcawl doesn't work in Penarth.
"Caerphilly is very colourful, we've got massive sprinkles over the wall, we've got bright pink 'Fablas' on the wall, whereas Penarth is a bit more subtle. We've taken the beams [in the building] back to the original colours and we've done it much more in keeping with the building."
"We've made Fablas fit into the building, not the building fit into Fablas," she added as she explained how they've kept features such as beams, windows and pillars but have had them lovingly restored to their former glory.
The Penarth store will sell Fablas' staple goodies - "We do what we do and we do it very well" - including 12 ice cream flavours, a range of cakes, waffles, pancake stacks, knickbockerglorys, banana splits, sundaes and "amazing coffee from Clifton Coffee" which is served with a miniature ice cream on the side.
Fablas opens in Penarth on Monday, March 27 and will be open between 11am and 6pm.
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