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A vacated lumber yard at 52 North Country Road in Smithtown is being transformed into a three-in-one food establishment.
Rosemarie Uzun and Cinderella Uy are combining three food concepts into one space: Matcha Tea in Heaven, Blue Bean Café, and Bubble Waffle Ice Cream.
When walking into the building, the first half of the space will be the Blue Bean Café, which will serve house-made coffee and other drinks.
Uzun said the coffee is one of the first on Long Island that roasts without emissions. This is through a commercial coffee roaster called The Bellwether — the owner said the only other Long Island town that has one in Sag Harbor.
Matcha Tea in Heaven will serve USDA-certified, organic matcha imported from the birthplace of the green tea powder — Uji in Kyoto, Japan.
Uzun describes choosing matcha like drinking wine — there are different kinds of “grades” and their matcha is Grade A, with no lead or harmful pesticides.
The women partners said they want to serve a product they know where they are getting it from and what is inside.
“Let’s serve people what is good for our body,” Uzun said. “We want to make it as natural and as organic as possible — matcha has crazy health benefits, but what good it is if there’s lead on it.”
Matcha Tea in Heaven will sell the shop’s own homemade matcha and organic teas sourced throughout the country.
Story continues after photo of 52 N. Country Road
The third component of the business is the bubble waffle ice cream shop, which Uzun and Uy decided to open because of the lack of this type of dessert in Smithtown.
The bubble waffle originated in Asia and is made out of “egglets.” The cone itself is made out of an egg batter, placed into a bubble waffle maker, and voila; you have a bubble waffle cone that’s crunchy on the outside and airy on the inside.
“It’s very unique,” Uzun said. “It’s like a waffle, but it’s custard-tasting.”
Uzun said they will also include artisanal cones from The Konery in Brooklyn that are gluten-free, preservative-free, and made from all-natural ingredients.
There are also vegan ice cream options as well.
Patrons can choose from the artisanal or bubble waffle cones, or have their ice cream served in a cup.
When putting together a bubble waffle cone, customers choose an ice cream base made in-house and then the mix-ins, like cereal, fruit, granola, chocolate, and more.
Uzun said the flavors are infused with a drill-like tool, rather than just putting the add-ons all on top. For example, if someone wants strawberry ice cream, it would be vanilla ice cream-based and strawberries infused.
The owners live minutes away from their business, which was one of the reasons they chose the location.
When they were looking for a storefront, they actually passed the old lumber yard on the way to another prospective location, and once seeing the sign that it was for rent, and how close it was to their children’s’ school, they knew it was the perfect place for their shop.
“I saw the beauty of the building, and I said this is it,” Uzun said.
The owners said the landlord had to apply for a change of use in order for the building to become a food establishment, which set the owners’ progress back a bit.
Before the pandemic, they signed the lease in February and the women said they planned to open in June, but the lockdown hindered their construction.
As of right now, they are awaiting a final permit approval, however, they were granted permission to begin construction last month.
Uzun said they can’t give an exact opening date yet, but they are hoping to open by the new year.
Now that they are back on track, the owners said they are excited to welcome the Smithtown community — whether they are bubble waffle and matcha fans, or new to the traditional Japanese cuisine.
“We are offering something very exciting that they have never seen before,” Uzun said. “Everything is carefully thought out, tested, every item has to taste good, and we are trying to shift to something healthy, but still tastes good at the same time.”
Below are more photos of the construction of the building. Check back in with GreaterSmithtown for updates on this new business.
Top: Cinderella Uy (left) and Rosemarie Uzun (right) outside of Smithtown Bubble Waffle, Matcha Tea Heaven, and Blue Bean Café.
