In this episode of Ridgefield Table, A Peek in the Kitchen, host Jillian Fontana sits down with Nadia Blair, the co-owner of Flobees, a roadside food stand on Route 7. Nadia shares the story of how she and her husband Aaron decided to transform a nostalgic building into Flobees, which opened in January 2025. The episode delves into the passion and intentionality behind their menu, offering traditional comfort food with a nostalgic twist like depression burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, unique sauces and drool-worthy desserts. Nadia also discusses their commitment to sustainability and community, emphasizing their efforts to make Flobees a family-friendly destination. Additionally, the episode covers the historical and cultural influences on their dishes and the importance of the building's history to their concept. Don't miss Nadia's insights and behind-the-scenes look at this family-run establishment that's bringing a taste of the South to New England.

Hello and welcome to Ridgefield Table, A peek in the kitchen.

2

This podcast is sponsored by

the Ridgefield Theater Barn.

3

The theater barn has recently

undergone a beautiful expansion.

4

It's such a prized and cherished

part of our community, and if you've

5

never been, definitely check it out.

6

We're sitting here recording at

the theater barn in their new

7

and improved podcast studio.

8

So if you've been thinking

about starting a podcast, this

9

is the perfect place to do it.

10

This is Jillian Fontana, and today I'm

chatting with Nadia Blair of Floes.

11

Floy opened up on Route seven

12

located in the old Carve building.

13

So it's a roadside food stand and

I happen to personally drive up

14

and down Route seven all the time.

15

I love the aesthetic that

they brought to Route seven.

16

It really needed a little brightness.

17

And I was so lucky to stop by

and have a treat the other day.

18

Nadia: Oh good.

19

Jillian: So Nadia, tell me about

what made you and your husband

20

Aaron decide to open up Flo Bes?

21

Nadia: It was the building.

22

So Aaron had been in the food

industry for over 20 years.

23

So we met in Austin.

24

I had gone to Austin for graduate school

and he was running a food trailer.

25

With his best friend Rick, and they

had both just left fine dining, so they

26

had gone to culinary school, they'd

been in some of the top fine dining,

27

you know, restaurants in Austin.

28

And they both decided together like,

you know, we wanna cook the food,

29

we wanna cook and have fun doing it.

30

Aaron and Rick had decided to leave

fine dining and open their own

31

food trailer, and this was back in.

32

2008 or 2009 when like food trailers

in Austin were like a brand new thing.

33

And it was really cool.

34

So I met him because his burger

trailer was right near the UT campus.

35

And so, , we ate there all the time.

36

Me and all my friends ate there

all the time and we hung out.

37

and so that's how we met each other.

38

The last 15 years has gone

by and we had five kids.

39

And being in the food industry wasn't the

easiest thing when you have little kids.

40

So he left the food industry and was doing

corporate management stuff for a while.

41

And then we moved back up

here after the pandemic.

42

And you know, that building

just kind of kept talking to me.

43

And I, you know, I grew up around

here, so I grew up in Katonah and

44

I've driven past that building.

45

I don't even know how many times.

46

And like you said, it looked.

47

Sad.

48

And it was just sitting there and it

looked sad and I felt like, you know,

49

then it came up for sale and I felt like

we could really do something with it.

50

And all of our kids are in school,

you know, all day now, and we

51

kind of decided to go for it.

52

Jillian: So you took the plunge?

53

You had referenced that you

were in Texas, in Austin, right?

54

Mm-hmm.

55

And your husband had all of

this background in culinary

56

and then doing the food truck.

57

What made you decide to actually, bring

that food concept up to New England?

58

Nadia: So again, it was

the building, right?

59

So, you know, we cook all

kinds of food love everything.

60

And this building just, I wanted

to honor what it was, which is a

61

roadside stand, which is a really

like, uniquely New England concept.

62

It feels like the way that we have them.

63

So I, my family's from Cape Cod.

64

So many roadside stands and like,

you know, lobster rolls and , fried

65

clams and stuff like that, and

ice cream on the side of the road.

66

And you know, there's a

really set menu for that.

67

You kind of expect the same things.

68

You expect some amount of like

fried seafood, hamburgers and

69

hot dogs, soft serve ice cream.

70

And it's really nostalgic.

71

And even those buildings, the carve

buildings are really nostalgic.

72

They tell you what to expect.

73

So I wasn't gonna put like a pizza place.

74

You know what I mean?

75

It really was in so many ways, like

what can we do for this building?

76

What does this building want?

77

Like what could it be for the town?

78

What could it be for everyone to enjoy?

79

Like what is there a demand for?

80

What maybe don't we have, which led us

to also, what are some of our favorite

81

casual foods that now that we don't live

in the south, we don't get all the time?

82

Like is there anything that I'd be , oh,

this would be so good if I could just.

83

Go somewhere and get.

84

A fried chicken sandwich.

85

Jillian: It makes so much sense

the way that you viewed this.

86

You know, it's both a business

and a passion of yours, right?

87

So you saw the building, which had really

sort of a throwback feel to it, right?

88

What you think of an maybe going to

the beach and coming back and stopping.

89

I grew up on Long Island, so

one of the things we used to

90

do was stop and get ice cream.

91

Mm-hmm.

92

On the way back, and it

wasn't CarVal, it was Marvel.

93

Mm-hmm.

94

Ice cream we had near me.

95

And it was such great memories, stopping

and getting some treats on the way back.

96

So there's that passion

and that nostalgia.

97

But what you also did was you

evaluated it as like, what's

98

going to be a good business?

99

Right.

100

And instead of having

it be a hundred percent.

101

Passion and your own particular desires.

102

You blended the passion with the business.

103

I idea of what would actually do well

in this area and what makes sense.

104

Mm-hmm.

105

Which, um, you know, was perfect

because when I stopped over, I decided

106

to go for the chicken sandwich.

107

Oh, good.

108

Which was delicious.

109

And you so graciously gave me some

ranch dressing on the side Now.

110

You know, I'm not really a connoisseur

of ranch, I would say, but when I had

111

this ranch, my world opened up a bit.

112

It was very different from

anything I had had before.

113

So I'd sensed some garlic in there.

114

Would that be accurate?

115

Nadia: Definitely accurate.

116

I wish I could tell you

everything that was in that ranch.

117

The ranch is a funny,

sweet, nostalgic space.

118

For me, Aaron and Rick.

119

So Rick actually, who owned the

trailer with Aaron, Rick moved

120

up here to do this with us.

121

Wow.

122

We got the van back together.

123

So he's Wow.

124

Living in the cottage at our house

and like the three of us are,

125

you know, well it was the two

of them, now it's three of us.

126

We're doing this together.

127

So each one of us has recipes on the menu.

128

We've all brought stuff to the table.

129

And that ranch is the ranch that,

the recipe that they've been making

130

since they had the trailer in Austin.

131

And that ranch was famous like.

132

In Austin, like everybody loved it.

133

All these college kids

ate it all the time.

134

And I remember laughing really hard

because they weren't super secretive

135

about the recipe or anything.

136

But my friend Andy, had started

working for them at one point at

137

the trailer when we were, you know,

after we were, um, done with school.

138

And when Erin and I got married

at first he was like, oh, I can't

139

believe you're marrying my boss.

140

That's so weird.

141

And then he asked me like, two days before

the wedding, he goes, does this mean

142

that you know how to make the ranch now?

143

Rick and Aaron just kind of went with it.

144

They were like, I mean, yeah, I

guess she gets the ranch recipe

145

now, but it was never meant to

be like that big of a secret.

146

But that's always what I think

of when people are like, oh

147

my God, the ranch is so good.

148

And I think of poor Andy just

really thinking he finally

149

had the in to get the recipe.

150

Jillian: That's so funny.

151

It really is special.

152

It's unique.

153

And, um, if you haven't given

it a try, I mean, I was, I

154

was dipping the fries in it.

155

I mean, it is the perfect

fry accoutrement, as we say.

156

Nadia: What's funny too is we talked,

we thought is is ranches moment over?

157

Jillian: It's not.

158

It's here.

159

You what I mean?

160

Because you're bringing it back

161

Nadia: When we were in college, you know,

162

was it like again, like 2009, like the

late two thousands, whatever, everybody

163

was putting ranch on everything, right?

164

You were like getting

ranch with your pizza.

165

You were, you know, and I thought, man,

does anybody even order ranch anymore?

166

. Should we even put it on the menu?

167

Jillian: Yeah, no, I think it's smart

because it just stands on its own.

168

It's, it's so good.

169

And I think, uh, ranch is having,

its day, it's coming back.

170

Nadia: Well, and you can't eat

fried pickles without ranch.

171

And when we put the fried pickles

on the menu, we had to put the

172

ranch on the menu because I don't

know what else you would dip.

173

Fried pickles in, but

it has to be ranched.

174

So when the fried pickles went on the

menu, the ranch was safe no matter what.

175

Jillian: So I also noticed this one

I haven't tried yet, but there's

176

a remade uhhuh, and that's one

of those condiments or sauces.

177

It's a classic French sauce, but

you know, it flies under the radar.

178

Not a lot of places are putting it out.

179

And so that's, that's, I mean, that's

definitely my next stop when I come back.

180

Um, but have people been like

experimenting with that and enjoying it?

181

Nadia: Yeah, definitely.

182

So all the sauces are completely

made in house, so every single

183

one we make from scratch.

184

And the remade was made

specifically for the shrimp poboy.

185

So it's got a little bit of heat to

it, but it's like a mayo based sauce.

186

But it's got, a relish undertone.

187

It's got a creole seasoning undertone.

188

So you get a lot of different flavors

in this one sauce because you wanna

189

add that sort of southern heat.

190

To this shrimp Po Boy, which is really

what makes it stand out from just being

191

like, you know, fried shrimp on bread.

192

And so every sauce on the menu

has sort of a reason it's there.

193

And then you're welcome to mix and

match them with anything that you want.

194

You know, like the ranch can't

have fried pickles without ranch.

195

You can't have the po

boy without the remade.

196

But we definitely see

people ordering a side.

197

I'd say the two we get the most

of ordering on the side would

198

be the remade and the ranch.

199

And then probably the hot honey mustard.

200

Jillian: So now we've really just

only dipped our toe in the sauces,

201

but we need to talk about some of

the meatier options on the menu.

202

So would there be like a standard,

that would be, your classic item

203

Nadia: yeah.

204

I think the burgers

are , the most iconic thing.

205

We sell a ton of burgers, but we

sell just as many depression burgers

206

as we do, you know, we call them

the basic b as many as there's a

207

regular smash burger on the menu.

208

You get two smash burger patties.

209

The meat is, seasoned we season

everything ourselves and roll all

210

the patties and, um, that's the

same burger seasoning that they've

211

been making since the trailer.

212

But the depression burger is our riff

on an Oklahoma fried onion burger.

213

So during the Depression, you

know, Oklahoma's only industry

214

was cattle, so they had beef.

215

Mm-hmm.

216

And not a lot else.

217

And during the depression.

218

When they really had to stretch that beef.

219

A couple of, uh, you know, restaurateurs

decided to stretch it with onions.

220

They would slice white onions super,

super thin and just mound them up

221

on the grill and then smash a patty

into the onions really to stretch the

222

beef because they couldn't get enough

beef, people couldn't pay for it.

223

And so they were trying to like

cut their beef usage in half.

224

Okay.

225

So they would.

226

Pile this, uh, this massive pile

of onions on the grill, smash

227

half the amount of beef into it.

228

Let the patty sort of steam through the

onions on one side, and then they'd flip

229

it over and they'd griddle the other side

of the patty, and then they'd sort of

230

seal it closed with a slice of cheese.

231

Wow.

232

See?

233

And then, and we put pickles on ours.

234

Okay.

235

And so that burger is a single

patty burger, as opposed to like our

236

other smash burgers come with two.

237

But there's just something really

tasty about it, you know, even if

238

you're not really an onion person

necessarily, there's something about

239

the way that the onions like cook into

the meat and you don't really, you can't

240

even almost tell that they're there.

241

And it's so much onion, really.

242

Um, so in Oklahoma they call it

a depression burger, but most

243

places outside of Oklahoma, call

it an Oklahoma fried onion burger.

244

Wow.

245

So, but my favorite thing is that.

246

So I love the food history of it.

247

All right, so almost every dish on this

menu too has a history, has a story.

248

The Poeboy has a great story in New

Orleans as to where that came from.

249

, but I really enjoy having these

little pieces of food history

250

that are so representative of

different regional cultures and

251

historical moments and, you know.

252

All of these different aspects of

American culture, across the map.

253

But my favorite thing that started

happening when we put that menu out

254

is all the teenagers that work for

us would read the menu and they'd be

255

like, I love the depression burger.

256

And one of them, so Sweetly said to

me, she goes, I just love that you

257

called it that, because it really does

make you feel better when you're sad.

258

And I was like, you know what?

259

I love that.

260

You know what?

261

Like there's not, you know, that's great.

262

Like.

263

I would feel better, if I were sad you.

264

What if I needed a depression burger?

265

That sounds great.

266

You know, like I'm, I'm here for that.

267

Like rebrand the depression burger.

268

But we.

269

We do have it on the menu

too, that you can make it a

270

recession burger and add bacon.

271

Jillian: Okay.

272

Nadia: Which I thought might have

been a hint, but that's okay.

273

Right.

274

Jillian: But actually, let's touch

on the fried chicken sandwich.

275

I did a little research and I

know that you have your hand

276

in the fried chicken sandwich.

277

I do.

278

Is that correct?

279

Nadia: I do, yes.

280

Jillian: So tell me about that.

281

Nadia: So, yeah, the fried chicken

is my fried chicken recipe.

282

So it's the fried chicken that I have

been making at home for my kids forever.

283

You know, we have five little kids.

284

They like chicken nuggets.

285

They like, you know, they like chicken,

um, and you know, fried chicken's,

286

just one of those things that's such

a good comfort food and you wanna

287

be able to make it really easily.

288

This is the way that I've been

making fried chicken for a long time.

289

We tweaked it and, you know,

got it really perfected.

290

'cause I was always sort of a

fly by the seat of your pants.

291

I know sort of what's going in there,

but you know, it mostly tastes the same.

292

Jillian: I know.

293

I'm the same way.

294

I can't follow recipe.

295

Nadia: I didn't go to culinary school.

296

I just cook because like,

that's what feels right.

297

That's what I like.

298

And so, you know, we,

Rick and Aaron, you know.

299

Buckled it down and I have made

so much fried chicken in the

300

months leading up to us opening

my sweet little kitchen at home.

301

Man, I wish I'd had an actual deep

fryer instead of my cast iron pot.

302

'cause I made so much fried

chicken to like dial it in, make

303

sure it was consistent, make sure

I could turn it out exactly the

304

same like way every single time.

305

. But yeah, I'm really proud

of that fried chicken.

306

Jillian: It's so good.

307

So first of all, you get a

really generous portion mm-hmm.

308

Of chicken breast.

309

It's actually coming out

of the, outside of the bun.

310

Yeah.

311

Which makes for a nice little

nibble as you're going.

312

And then the coating, which is,

I, it's a batter, I suspect.

313

It's, is it?

314

,

Nadia: so it's a buttermilk dredge and then a flour dredge.

315

Oh, is it?

316

So it's a two step dred.

317

Oh, so it's brined.

318

In buttermilk pickle juice and spices.

319

And so after the chicken's,

b brined usually overnight.

320

Then it goes into the seasoned flour,

back into the buttermilk, into the

321

seasoned flour and into the fryer.

322

Jillian: Okay.

323

So, 'cause my perception was

that it was a batter, but, okay.

324

That makes sense.

325

Mm-hmm.

326

You're almost creating a batter Yes.

327

Going back and forth.

328

Yes.

329

Nice coating.

330

And it's just gorgeous and crispy.

331

And then there's a piece

of American cheese.

332

Mm-hmm.

333

Melted on top cheese and the pickles.

334

And the pickles so good.

335

My son is a pickle fanatic.

336

Fanatic.

337

Like if I forget to put pickles on

his lunch sandwich, he comes back

338

and he lets me know that I forgot.

339

So I definitely have to bring him for

the fried pickles 'cause I actually don't

340

think he's ever had fried pickles before.

341

Nadia: You could go to like the movie

theater in Texas and get Fried pickle.

342

They were everywhere.

343

And I was like, what is this?

344

What are we all doing here?

345

But it's great.

346

. And.

347

So we even specifically, like we

buy very specific pickles because

348

they're used, you know, across

our menu in different ways, right?

349

Like we're using all that pickle

juice is going in the chicken, so

350

it's gotta be the right pickle juice.

351

It's gotta have the right flavor.

352

It's gotta be, you know, it's a

really important piece to everything.

353

So then those pickles have to have the

same flavor that we wanna carry over

354

to the sandwiches, to the hot dogs, to,

you know, whatever else are going on.

355

The other thing that we do , one of

the things that I love that we have on

356

the menu is a bird dog, which is Okay.

357

Yes.

358

Do tell, also use is the fried

chicken, which is something that

359

we used to also make at home.

360

And so one of the reasons too is I

didn't want, just the way that I don't

361

wanna waste anything with pickles.

362

I'm not gonna buy cans of

pickles to use the pickle juice

363

and then not use the pickles.

364

You know, I don't wanna

waste anything either.

365

So when we buy our chicken, we can

break our chicken breasts down into

366

our chicken sandwich portions, and

then I can break them down into chicken

367

tender portions and I can even break

them down into chicken bites mm-hmm.

368

That we can use in the, um, kids' meals.

369

So all that chicken

gets made the same way.

370

And so then you can take your chicken

tender and put it into a hot dog bun.

371

And then we put in with a slice of bacon,

sliced jalapenos, shredded cheddar cheese,

372

and then we douse it in hot honey mustard.

373

That sounds unbelievable.

374

And so, I mean, it's got some spice to it.

375

It's got a little bit of heat.

376

Um, another thing to do if you don't

like the hot honey mustard is you can

377

ask them to put the queso on it instead.

378

You're like extra indulgent double cheese.

379

Um, but it's really, really, really good.

380

Mm-hmm.

381

And so, you know, I mean, I'm,

I'm a hotdog person, but only.

382

Occasionally.

383

Yeah.

384

And I really like a simple hot dog.

385

Like I'm not complicated.

386

It's a tailgating snack

in, , South Carolina.

387

Jillian: I haven't really been to

the south very much in my travels,

388

so I'm definitely, a little naive to

all of these like cool comfort foods.

389

So I'm

390

experiencing these things for the first

time with, you know, with everyone

391

else up here in Richfield probably.

392

Nadia: Well, that's what's

been fun, you know what I mean?

393

Like, I don't truthfully miss a

lot about living in the south,

394

but like the food's good.

395

Jillian: Yep.

396

So, one thing that I noticed, um.

397

Is your kids' menu offers so much value.

398

I love that because if you're just

getting, you know, some food for the

399

kids, it's price at like $8 for the

kids' meals and you're getting like

400

the, the Maine and then a side and then

a drink and I'm like, that is awesome

401

because sometimes you need to grab

some food for everybody in the car and

402

it can get really pricey really quick.

403

And I really appreciate that you

guys are, you know, doing us all

404

a little bit of a favor here.

405

Nadia: So

406

pricing was, I mean, literally

everything that we did

407

had intention, right?

408

Every detail is the three of us.

409

Um, working together and

like talking everything out.

410

And one of the things that was important

to me, you know, the perspective I

411

was always bringing to the table was

like, I'm the one with all the kids.

412

Like I'm the one that's taking

the kids to dance, and soccer

413

practice and robotics and whatever.

414

And I'm the one that

after swim every week.

415

We have to stop at like, you know, the

taco place or the burger place or the

416

pizza place or the burger place and

the taco place and the pizza place.

417

'cause nobody wants the same

thing when you have five kids.

418

And you just can't fight the fight.

419

And I could spend like $75

just getting them takeout.

420

And so it was important to me that

we offered sort of a kid's portion.

421

'cause that's the other thing,

like I have kids that are even

422

12 that they're not going to eat.

423

Like a full-size burger.

424

Right?

425

Yeah.

426

And they don't need it.

427

So one of the things with the kids meals

is you get like a half portion of fries.

428

Because my kids never finish them.

429

No one can share, but like

then they don't finish them.

430

That hate throwing away food

that everybody goes, I'm done.

431

Yep.

432

I had my three fries.

433

I'm good.

434

And you're like, really?

435

Yeah.

436

Jillian: So it's really appreciated

from one mom to another.

437

Tell me about these, interesting

sweets that are of the frozen nature.

438

what is this snow bee?

439

Nadia: Another southern

callback, snowballs are the

440

southern answer to a snow cone.

441

So snow cones are more traditionally

sort of like crushed or like chopped

442

ice which is like what we get up here,

443

In New Orleans, they make a thing

called snowballs , and you freeze

444

these giant blocks of ice and then

they are essentially shredded.

445

Or shaved, I guess.

446

And it's really fluffy, so it comes

out like snow and you can like mold it.

447

. And you could fully make a

snowball with it if you want.

448

And it has this really, really fluffy

texture that then also like, I mean, I

449

watch my kids make snow cones every summer

and they just, it's like filled with

450

syrup at the bottom and like, that's fine.

451

They're having fun.

452

Mm-hmm.

453

I don't care.

454

Um, but what's neat about the texture

of this ice is that you can really,

455

it holds the syrup all the way to

the top Because it's more Okay.

456

It's almost like unflavored sorbet.

457

You can really like smush it together.

458

Light and fluffy really.

459

Light and fluffy.

460

In New Orleans, they do

some fun stuff with it.

461

There's, they put sweet and

condensed milk on it, and you

462

can kind of make it like creamy.

463

So we do have that as an option too.

464

But Aaron grew up in Houston, so all

along the Gulf Coast, these snow cones,

465

the snowballs are really, really common.

466

And we had this one gym, gyms was

this, um, snowball place right by the

467

pool, , in our neighborhood in Austin.

468

And when our kids were tiny,

like Aaron would take them and

469

they'd go get snowballs together

and, you know, that was for them.

470

The way that like going to get,

you know, soft serve at Carve an

471

iconic childhood thing for us.

472

And.

473

So, you know, I, we kind of

joked about it as most of these

474

ideas start with me and Aaron.

475

I said we should do it.

476

And he was like, oh my God.

477

Yeah, we should, like, let's,

let's bring that up here.

478

We even imported our

machine is from New Orleans.

479

Jillian: That's great.

480

Well they're really, they're gonna be

a hit this summer, that's for sure.

481

Driving along and I'll definitely

have, you know, my kids try it 'cause

482

I want my kids to have these different

food experiences and I love that

483

you guys are bringing these things

up here so we don't necessarily

484

have to go to Texas or Louisiana.

485

Very hot.

486

So where does the name Floy come from?

487

Nadia: So, Floy, um,

it's my mother-in-law.

488

So Aaron's mom is Florence Blair, and

when Aaron was in high school in the

489

nineties, there was a really famous

infomercial for the Flowbee, which

490

is like this hair cutting tool that's

like a vacuum cleaner attachment.

491

And it like.

492

Cuts your hair,

493

when Aaron was in high school, they

were all clothing, this Flowbees

494

commercial, I guess Beavis and Butthead

did like a sketch about it really.

495

And George Co Colony apparently

still uses one and apparently

496

people are still using them.

497

And so as teenagers do with Erin's mom,

her name being Florence Blair she became

498

Floy, , not sure truthfully that she loved

it, but she kind of got stuck with it.

499

And that's all Aaron refers to her as.

500

Jillian: Really?

501

Today.

502

Like even today?

503

Today.

504

Nadia: Even today.

505

I mean, he'll call her mom.

506

Yeah.

507

But like when he talks about her, he's

like, you know, he talks about Floy.

508

, but when we bought the building and

I was starting to conceptualize.

509

What I wanted to see it grow into is

that I wanted to honor the nostalgia

510

of all the eras that it had seen.

511

So it is from 1957, but when you talk

to people in town about this building,

512

everybody's feedback is different.

513

Right?

514

They're like, oh, I grew up going

there in the back of my dad's, like

515

1967 Chevy, and nobody had seat

belts on, and you know, like mm-hmm.

516

And then you get somebody who

was, I worked there when I was

517

in high school in the eighties.

518

I remember listening to such and

such music outside, you know, or.

519

Everybody has this really

different nostalgic, you know,

520

decade that they attach it to,

which is totally makes sense.

521

So we didn't want to

hold it in the fifties.

522

I wanted to give it sort of this makeover

that honored all of its history mm-hmm.

523

So that everybody that came could see

something in that design or in what we've

524

done that evoked that nostalgia for them.

525

So whether that was 1982 1993,

There's a little something in the

526

design, in the aesthetics that

reminds you of your childhood.

527

That's brilliant.

528

Yeah.

529

And everybody after 2005 is screwed.

530

I can't be nostalgic for, yeah.

531

Well that's impossible.

532

But in any case, we had joked

that, I didn't wanna name it

533

something like Flows or Mels.

534

And then.

535

Made a joke that we should call

it Flowbees because it kind of

536

hits the fifties and the nineties.

537

Jillian: It has just a

whimsy , that you would associate

538

with like a roadside stand.

539

Mm-hmm.

540

Or like a carefree spirit of

just like flying down the highway.

541

Is you'd expect people and like

poodle skirts and like roller skates.

542

And I was like, I don't, that's

not how, we're not going that hard.

543

Right, right.

544

And then the color stripes on the

side are, you know, a little bit.

545

To me, seventies or eighties, right?

546

Mm-hmm.

547

Is that sort of what you're going for?

548

Yeah, exactly.

549

But the color tones are a little

bit fresher than that too.

550

So I don't know.

551

I really like how you kind of

brought everything together.

552

It's really cool when you drive

past and I'm like, wow, this

553

really, you know, you spruced it

up, you put the, the stone wall.

554

Yeah.

555

And then of course there's the

back area, which if anybody hasn't.

556

I've seen it yet, which I can't

imagine somebody not driving past it.

557

But now you have all the picnic tables in

the back and then what's the little stand?

558

Is that Restrooms?

559

Nadia: It's restrooms, yeah.

560

And then there's something, so

again, that was a mom thing for me.

561

Yeah.

562

Is that like inevitably I would go

somewhere with my kids order, $70

563

worth of food, and one of them would

look at me and go, I have to go

564

. And there wouldn't be a bathroom.

565

Yeah.

566

And I'd be like, I don't know.

567

Like you're just, you don't

know what to do, you know?

568

And it's the worst.

569

And or a kid gets a

snow cone and they get.

570

You know, they're purple and red all

over their face or whatever it is.

571

Like we weren't required to put bathrooms

in, so I did give up one of our parking

572

spaces, but I just felt like if I wanted

people to enjoy being there and be able

573

to eat their food, hang out in like this

patio area, listen to some music, let

574

their kids play in the dirt, whatever

it is, and then go get ice cream.

575

The things I need as a

mom is I need bathrooms.

576

I need a changing table.

577

And I need a water bottle filler

because my kids apparently are camels

578

and like they need to drink water

24 hours a day and everybody has

579

a water bottle with them anyway.

580

Yes.

581

There's no need for you to have

to come back and like buy water.

582

You're, and then the plastic cups,

you don't need to be throwing

583

out plastic cups and use Yeah.

584

I, I.

585

Really appreciate that and thank

you for being forward thinking.

586

Well, sustainability was part of it too.

587

Yeah.

588

Yeah.

589

So, um, actually like 85% right now

of our packaging is all compostable.

590

Oh, wow.

591

That's fantastic.

592

So the utensils are compostable.

593

Mm-hmm.

594

The ice cream cups, the snow bees cups,

the food paper, the stickers that go

595

on the paper, you know, on your, you

know, sandwich to tell you what it is.

596

The paper bags

597

.

one of the projects I'm even doing today is when you return your cans at Flowbees,

598

I take all those cans and I return

them for the 10 cent deposit really?

599

And then we're gonna

collect all that money.

600

And we have already worked with the

Ridgefield Public School District,

601

and we're gonna donate it to

Ridgefield Public Schools to pay off.

602

Any associated cost with school

lunch, debt, or hardship causes.

603

So kids who weren't able to afford

the band trip or the field trip,

604

or the band uniform or whatever

it is, Ridgefield doesn't say no.

605

And that means the school

district incurs that debt.

606

We're going to take that money

from our cans, just a little

607

extra encouragement to just make

sure you pop it in the recycling.

608

So the recycling mins are just

easily findable all over, right?

609

Yeah.

610

So every one of our, those two little

service stations, there's three service

611

stations and one is trash because

everything you can throw in the trash.

612

And then the other one is just

like a circle that Perfect.

613

You can just pop all the camera.

614

Wow.

615

Thank you.

616

Yeah.

617

And so we're even going to, to sort

of like promote that a little bit

618

more because obviously it's been cold.

619

So we haven't had a lot of people

like hanging out at Flowbees.

620

For the week before Earth Day, so the

15th to 22nd, if anybody brings 20 cans.

621

They get a free ice cream.

622

Oh, that's great.

623

Are, we free to bring our own cans

that are not coming from Floes.

624

Sure.

625

Yeah.

626

Like I'm thinking Girl Scout Little

Project, you know, or something like that.

627

For that, for that week.

628

That'd be awesome.

629

Awesome.

630

So yeah, today one of my projects

for the rest of the day is I'm gonna

631

go, Aaron brought all the cans home

that we have at Flo's right now.

632

Mm-hmm.

633

I'm gonna go through 'em all.

634

I'm gonna take 'em all and do like

our first massive, can return.

635

That's so cool.

636

And we'll start.

637

Hanging onto those receipts and

we'll see how far we get this year.

638

Jillian: So it's funny you

bring this up because I actually

639

was unaware about aluminum.

640

I had recently just been researching

something personally, and it's so much

641

more costly and inefficient to actually

mine aluminum versus just to recycle it.

642

You're using it and it's just

the most sustainable thing as

643

long as it's being recycled.

644

So I, I just kind of.

645

Learned about that.

646

So it's amazing.

647

Nadia: you know, we spend so much time on

Cape Cod, it's where my family's from and

648

a lot of the towns on Cape Cod don't allow

you to sell things in plastic anymore.

649

Can't buy plastic water bottles.

650

You can't buy, there's no plastic bags.

651

'cause obviously you're

surrounded by the ocean.

652

Yeah.

653

Right.

654

Like the impact of that is direct.

655

You take that bottle and you go to

the beach and you leave it there.

656

You know, you take those straws

and you leave them there, you know?

657

I get it.

658

And so that was the first

place I'd ever gone.

659

I went to a restaurant, on the Cape and I

got water and they gave me a can of water.

660

And it's kind of jarring the first

time you get like still water in a can.

661

You're like, what?

662

Like, let's feel as excessive

and then like you start thinking

663

about it and you're like, this

actually makes a ton of sense.

664

Why am I using plastic when

like the can is so much better.

665

And you know, so.

666

That's got my, my head spinning

about it and it stuck and I was like,

667

well, if we're ever gonna do it, then

that was one of those little ideas

668

that was always sitting in my head

669

One of the things that we get asked

about a lot so the history of the

670

building is from 1957 to 77, it

was a carve owned by Tom Carve.

671

And then when his lease was up, um, Oman

actually had leased him the property,

672

oman's the building next door and.

673

He wouldn't, he wouldn't

negotiate his lease for the

674

entire 20 years that he was there.

675

So then when his lease was up, they

wouldn't negotiate with him at all.

676

So the, I believe Felix

was 19 at the time.

677

He was the manager of the CarVal.

678

And so Ulman offered him

the lease and he took it.

679

So that's when in 1977, he was

like 19 or 20 and he changed it

680

from Carve to Ridgefield ice cream.

681

And from 77 until I believe 2017.

682

Felix owned it and he took so much pride

in that building, in those machines.

683

It became like the stuff of

legend that he kept this carve

684

machine going for so long.

685

We do get that question a lot

is like, oh, I hope they're

686

still making the same ice cream.

687

And it's like, I hate to break people's

heart, but like they haven't been making

688

that ice cream since at least 2017.

689

Mm-hmm.

690

But people seem really, really happy

with the ice cream that we are making and

691

we've been having a lot of fun with it.

692

So, you know, we obviously

have chocolate and vanilla.

693

Strawberry was so popular as our

seasonal flavor in February that

694

Rick and Aaron won't let me.

695

Let it go because we sell almost

more strawberry milkshakes

696

than vanilla or chocolate.

697

, so our January special flavor for soft

serve was Maple and I had always planned

698

doing one special flavor a month,

but the strawberry was so popular.

699

They're like the strawberry has to stay.

700

So this month in March, it was cheesecake.

701

And then there's always like a

special sundae that goes with that.

702

So the cheesecake was inspired 'cause

it was a nice compliment to like this

703

Guinness chocolate cookie that I made.

704

And we made a Guinness chocolate

syrup and then caramel on top.

705

But like going into April,

we're gonna do a lemon.

706

And so the lemon special is gonna

have a cookie that accompanies it.

707

That is an Earl Gray and

lavender sugar cookie.

708

And then.

709

You'll get that with a

honey drizzle on top.

710

So it's kind of like a nice cup of tea.

711

Which kind of fits for me

with like the April weather.

712

And then this will be the first month

that we're also going to make it

713

in ice cream sandwich form, so you

can get two of those sugar cookies.

714

Your lemon soft serve in the

middle and a little bit of drizzle

715

sandwich between two cookies.

716

Jillian: I think you're offering a lot

of different, like frozen treat options.

717

Mm-hmm.

718

You can do soft serve if you

have hard scoop ice cream and

719

then you have the snow bes.

720

Correct.

721

Yeah.

722

So that, that's plenty of options.

723

I don't know what anybody wants.

724

Nadia: And our hard ice cream is great.

725

Yeah.

726

So like, we don't make

our own hard ice cream.

727

We only have 770 square feet, we put

in a full kitchen . So, you know, we

728

really packed it in and you know, so it's

why we have limited flavors of things.

729

I also think simplicity is better.

730

Like again, with kids when they have 75

choices, like my kids will stand there

731

for an hour before ordering vanilla.

732

But Longford makes incredible

ice cream and so it's been so

733

nice to partner up with them and.

734

I think people really like their

ice cream and it's been really

735

great and they have so many choices

and their ice cream's great.

736

And then we also have Rice

Krispy treats and chocolate cake

737

if you don't want ice cream.

738

We have fun Fetty rice crispy

treats, which or my recipe.

739

And then a Texas sheet

cake that is made with Dr.

740

Pepper.

741

Texas you typically put

like chopped pecans on top.

742

But another thing is like our

kitchen right now is nut free.

743

Something for everybody.

744

Jillian: I now I have even more

things I need to try off the menu.

745

But anyway, be sure to stop by fall

bes, the warm weather is coming.

746

There's plenty of seating outside.

747

Thank you so much, Nadia.

748

This was so fun.

749

I If you like this episode of

Ridgefield Table, A Peek in the Kitchen.

750

There's many more.

751

So you can just go to the episode

webpage, or you could find Ridgefield

752

Table a peek in the Kitchen on, Apple

Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify.

753

An audible.

754

Thanks so much to join us next

time, and if you like this

755

podcast, give us a follow.