The re-opening of an Altadena ice cream shop brings smiles, topped with a scoop of hope

It’s not often one sees so many bright and beaming faces shining in one place at the same time, but the offer for free ice cream on Friday afternoon, June 6, had a distinctly flavorful effect on dozens of area residents.

People in this Pasadena neighborhood were equally thrilled to see Carmela Ice Cream finally reopen its doors for the first time since the Eaton fire. The neighborhood mainstay at 2495 E. Washington Blvd. serves as a favorite go-to for many residents, who have been frequenting it for years and who are sincerely grateful to see small businesses coming back online in this area.

While the building wasn’t burned down, a subsequent 12-day power outage caused the entire inventory to melt, which in turn riddled the floor and walls with mold and seepage.

“Basically, melted ice cream got everywhere,” explained owner Jessica Mortarotti. “They had to gut the whole place and it turned into this whole bigger full-remodel than we were expecting, and it took a while to go through that process.”

Mortarotti, in turn, has been conducting a GoFundMe campaign that, to date, has raised 93% of its $30,000 goal to pay for repairs and rebuilding.

Consequently, Carmela’s reopening was also celebrated by generous support from GoFundMe itself. The San Diego-based crowdfunding company, in honor of its own 15-year anniversary, bought free ice cream for everyone who came by.

“This was one that the community really cared about,” said Lili Strasser, lead engagement manager with GoFundMe.

Strasser said that GoFundMe is doing this promotion with only one other business in the whole state — Smitten Ice Cream in San Francisco — which will have a similar event next week.

Smitten was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti earlier this year and the shop was severely damaged. More than 850 donations have helped owner Robyn Fisher exceed her $100,000 fundraising goal to get that shop back in operation.

“We wanted to support and celebrate places the community showed up for,” Strasser said.

With some of its signature flavors gracing Carmela’s menu board for the first time in months, including lavender honey, brown sugar vanilla bean, and salted caramel, the perpetual line of dozens of people outside the shop was giddy with anticipation.

“It has unusual flavors,” Suzette Backus of Pasadena said. “The ice cream is pure and very good quality, and it’s an elegant little shop.”

“It’s just fun to come here,” she said.

Monica Uy-Barreta of Alhambra used to come to the shop when she was on maternity leave for her son, Leonardo, who is now 16-months old. “We would walk down over here and I was so devastated when they closed.”

Today, she said, this would be the first time her son would be having a little taste of their ice cream. It was a moment that made her extremely emotional once she entered the new store.

“I’m gonna cry,” Uy-Barreta said, welling up with tears as she carried Leonardo up to the counter to order her usual favorite honey lavender.

“It makes me happy that now we have a new place to walk over to, because we’re so limited,” she said.

Others spoke of how pleased they were to see and support a small business coming back after the fire.

“I’m very excited for them,” said Ariana Dowell of Altadena.

“This is one of those mom-and-pop smaller stores,” she said, “and I’m just happy they got to make it. That’s a big question for a lot of these mom-and-pops.”

Miguel Gonzalez of Pasadena, who came with his family, is also glad they’re back.

“It feels good,” he said. “We’ve been waiting a long time and a lot of people have been waiting as well. It’s our favorite spot.”

“It’s a good feeling getting back to some kind of normalcy around here,” said his wife, Maricella Gonzalez.

“We’re also happy to see the businesses surviving,” she said. “We want to support the businesses around our neighborhood because we want to keep them here.”

Mortarotti expressed joy and appreciation for her customers.

“I’m like shocked walking in here, to see everyone,” she said. “It’s so fun. It’s such a nice change from what we’ve been dealing with.”

Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.