Maple Ridge News, Saturday, July 6, 2002

CREATING A TASTY SHOWCASE

By Roxanne Hooper
Staff Reporter

The average customer is walking into the bright new ice cream parlour on 224 Street to grab a scrumptious sampling of Italian gelato.

Some may have ventured in to get a Torrefazione coffee, or take in a little live entertainment on Saturdays. Possibly even through word of mouth, some people are showing up watch Paul Ravensbergen make fresh gelato. But most are simply there to enjoy a tasty ice cream.

Few customers realize is that the new Marina's Gelato store in downtown Maple Ridge is much more that a simple ice cream parlour.

This little Maple Ridge shop will also serve as a showcase for a variety of bakery supplies and equipment available from the owner's other business.

After four months of extensive renovations, Marina's Gelato opened in the former Olson's Playhouse Cafe (also formerly Rosie's Jazz Ice Cream Bar).

Marina Ravensbergen and her husband Paul have been operating a bakery supply business (selling everything from supplies to equipment such as fridges, display cases and ice cream machines) from a Port Coquitlam warehouse since shortly after they emigrated from Holland in 1984.

But with their prospective buyers coming from around the globe to view some of the Ravensbergen's equipment, the couple longed to find a shop to showcase their wares.

They wanted potential customers for Ravensbergen Bakery Supplies to actually see the equipment in action, and taste the results.

"We often had people ask us 'where can we taste ice cream made with your stuff'," Marina explained: They're now sent to Marina's Gelato.

Sure, the little shop serves as a perfect showcase for their other business - which sells to restaurants, hotels, bakeries and other ice cream stores. But for the Coquitlam couple, the creation of Marina's Gelato is also the fulfillment of years of dreaming.

Paul was a pastry chef in the making since the day he was born, he said - only half joking. His father started a bakery in Holland in the 1930s. It specialized in cookies and cakes, and a few years after opening expanded into ice cream. Paul noted that there are similarities in making European pastries and making ice cream.

Since Paul was an infant, he was learning every aspect of the family business. Relatives have since taken over operation of the business in Holland, allowing Paul and Marina to leave the Netherlands for Canada. By the way, this couple met when Marina began working for Paul at the bakery in Holland - and they have always shared a passion for ice cream.

"This store grew more out of our passion," Marina said. The couple travels to Italy every year for ice cream trade shows, and have frequently spoken of opening their own shop.

But it wasn't until a sales representative for Ravensbergen Bakery Supplies noticed the vacant 224-Street store that their dream began to take shape.

The ice cream parlour opened two weeks ago, and both Paul and Marina are surprised by the "tremendous response" so far.

On those warm summer days and nights, and such was the case on Canada Day when Paul was still making fresh gelato at 10p.m., the little shop is bustling with customers looking for a refreshing treat.

The Ravensbergens don't know what's going to happen with Marina's Gelato in the winter. They could expand into other products or might close up for a few months. Marina is optimistic there will be enough demand to keep them open year round, especially if they open up to school tours and add a popular European dish called poffertjes, ice cream cakes, and even ice cream made with liquor (once they get a liquor license).

They have already introduced diabetic ice cream, and will be selling specialty European chocolates in the weeks to come.

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