Shaved ice gets warm reception
When your product rivals snow and your workplace is under the Las Vegas sun, it may be wise to be mobile.
Hawaiian Shaved Ice is a business with a refurbished 1983 Winnebago as its ride and a father-daughter team as its engine. The mobile business launched in March and has been serving a frozen treat perfected in Hawaii to the Las Vegas masses since.
Tony Sottile and daughter Elizabeth Sottile are a self-described duo of Italians who know Hawaiian shave ice.
The pair combined expertise in sales and customer service, market research and two inspirational trips to Hawaii to fuel their mobile idea.
"I marveled how tourist buses would come from 30 miles for shave ice," Tony said of Matsumotos Shave Ice in Haleiwa, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. "They would line up."
Tony sought to bring it inland but in his own way, he said.
"I was fearful of the word 'restaurant,' " he said. "Mobile (business) allows freedom."
He purchased a recreational vehicle from a craigslist post and spent about nine months bringing it to health department and Hawaiian standards.
Shave ice, as opposed to its Americanized name "shaved ice," Tony said, has roots in Asia. Japanese immigrants flocked to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations and brought with them a frozen confection, he said.
The ice was shaved, as opposed to chipped, off a block and topped with fruit juice. The snow-like ice is similar to a snowball, Elizabeth said.
The Sottiles' process is similar. Hawaiian Shaved Ice cones are shaved from the bottom of the block and topped with one or a combination of 12 flavors.
The business' first large event was the 2012 AIDS Walk Las Vegas, April 15 at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
"I was amazed by people who would ask us, 'Where have you been?' and 'How can we follow you?' " Elizabeth said.
The business has an online and social media presence updated frequently.
Hawaiian Shaved Ice can be found at private gatherings, sponsored outings and large-scale events.
"I guess no event is too big or too small," Elizabeth said. "We've had parties of 75, and we were at Electric Daisy Carnival," referring to the three-night June music festival that attracted an estimated 300,000 visitors.
The Sottiles are choosy about the events they attend, and Elizabeth continues to work a full-time job. They said they don't try to be conniving with competition in the mobile market.
"We've learned you can't be everywhere and everything to everyone," Tony said. "We have the opportunity to sit down and think about what event is best for us."
Cherry, piña colada and "tiger's blood" - a mixture of strawberry, watermelon and coconut - are the three most popular flavors, Tony said. An optional sour spray is also building a fan base.
Native Hawaiians have praised the product, Elizabeth said.
"I always feel like the pressure is on," she said. "They know shave ice."
The shave ice is served with a spoon and straw and comes in 4-, 8- and 12-ounce sizes.
"It has the appeal to adults and children," Tony said. "As soon as we hand them a cup, they're thrilled."
For more information, visit hawaiian
shavedicelasvegas.com, email hawaiian
shavedicelv@gmail.com or call 596-0968.
Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@viewnews.com or 477-3839.
