Hot off a big win in Ben & Jerry’s Clash of the Cones ice cream competition, Rabia Kamara is ready to debut the second outpost of her growing frozen treats empire: Suzy Sno.
Her New Orleans-style, sno-ball shop in Jackson Ward opened to great fanfare last month as Kamara and her team tested the new concept ahead of a grand opening planned to coincide with Richmond Black Restaurant Experience in early March. Offering flavors and toppings ranging from toasted marshmallow fluff to lime juice Tajín, her shop will make you forget what you thought you knew about shaved ice.
“Sno-balls are snow cones’ much cooler cousins,” says Kamara. “Instead of weird chunky ice where all the syrup sinks to the bottom, our ice gets shaved so finely that it basically becomes snow. Because the ice is finer, the flavoring gets immediately absorbed so no bite is grossly sweet. As it melts, it gets better because the flavors meld together at the bottom.”
Bringing a passion to shaved ice that only a nationally renowned dessert diva could, Kamara is pushing sno-balls to new heights. One of the breakout stars on her menu is the Spicy Mango Margarita sno-ball, a half-habanero, half-mango mix with activated charcoal and lime juice Tajín topped off with a gummy skull. Another top seller is the Gimme S’More, a chocolate sno-ball decked out with graham cracker crumbs, chocolate sauce, chocolate-covered s’mores bites and toasted marshmallow fluff Karmalita’s Marshmallows & Confections. For those worried that such creative concoctions are beyond their comfort zone, the classics like cherry, orange, and 14 other accessible flavors await.
“With shaved ice, there is a little bit of something for everyone because it’s basically gluten-free and vegan across the board; not to mention we have some sugar-free flavors to accommodate folks,” Kamara says. “Our sno-balls are also an affordable luxury because we don’t have to spend as much on the ingredients as we do with ice cream.”
After years of running Ruby Scoops solo before teaming up with Emmett Wright to launch a brick-and-mortar on Brookland Park Boulevard last year, Kamara is starting out with a full bench of partners to help make Suzy Sno a success. Husband-and-wife duo Tiara and Kris Russell have joined Kamara and her long-time boyfriend, Bakari Ruggiero, as co-owners. While Kamara will be the face of the new shop, her partners have taken on everything from supply chain logistics to shop design to make the soft openings last month feel seamless.
Inside Suzy Sno, dozens of gold-framed photographs pay homage to the history of the Harlem of the South. As a founding member of the Jackson Ward Collective, Kamara’s focus on centering the neighborhood’s Black heritage as a highlight should surprise no one.
“A large part of me wanting to move back to Richmond was wanting to be intentional about being in a space that not only loves local businesses but truly loves local businesses of color,” she explains. “Richmond is changing at an extremely rapid pace, and it’s important to let everyone in a Black neighborhood know that you’re there for them. There’s a line to ride between contributing to the community and not overriding residents’ vision for their home, but why should we not have nice things in Black neighborhoods?”
When Kamara talks hopefully about her new venture growing into an anchor of investment in an area that has been systematically destroyed, divided and disinvested for decades, it’s clear her vision goes far beyond spruced up storefronts. In her eyes, good local businesses also give back.
“One of the nice things about shaved ice is that there is such little room for user error,” Kamara says. “I wanted to open a business that high schoolers can work at to show kids all the different things that they are capable of. Since making ice cream is so much more technical and complicated, I haven’t had the same opportunity to pour back into the community with Scoops.”
The belief that work should not only pay the bills but also grow confidence to pursue one’s dreams is a testament to the namesake for the shop: Kamara’s grandmother, Suzanne.
“She worked really hard to find a job that would get her a visa to America and bring our whole family here,” says Kamara. “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here. She encouraged me to cook and bake and find ways to make myself and my parents happy. She was the one person who gave me the grace to say, ‘This isn’t what I want for myself,’ and to buck my parents’ vision of the American dream and pursue ice cream.”
Suzy Sno represents Kamara’s culinary wish to create new, heart-warming memories for the future without forgetting good times past.
“I consider myself a nostalgia curator. There’s something nostalgic about eating something and your whole mouth and tongue turning red, purple, or blue. It’s important to have those small moments of joy, especially these days. If I can brighten someone’s day with a sno-ball, then I feel like I am fulfilling my mission in life.”
