April 9, 2018

Here’s a sign that spring must be getting closer: Downtown’s newest ice cream shop is weeks away from opening.

The grand opening of Parlour Ice Cream House, which is on the first floor of Washington Square, will be May 3.

That’s the five-year anniversary of when owners Chris and Caryn Hanmer opened CH Patisserie on nearby Phillips Avenue.

“It is a very special date for our family,” Chris Hanmer said. “Construction is going great. We hope to be in the kitchen perfecting recipes in the next week or so.”

The future Parlour Ice Cream House

Parlour will be open daily starting at noon. It will close at 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 6 p.m. Sunday.

The ice cream shop will feature 18 rotating flavors of ice cream, gelato and sorbet. They have been meticulously developed by Hanmer and are designed to reflect his various experiences and emotions.

The store is in the new Washington Square on Main Avenue with easy access from the Washington Pavilion and offices and condominiums above it.

“My wife, Caryn, is the one that had all the vision for the space,” Hanmer said. “We both feel that it has exceeded all of our expectations.”

Parlour needs to hire eight to 10 employees, including a manager, he added.

“We need people. If people want to work in a service-oriented career making people feel good with ice cream, that’s what we’re looking for — high-energy, great-attitude people.”

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