Greece, 1890
My great uncles and aunts, fleeing poverty and war in Greece, took their chocolate making traditions with them as they sprawled out across the United States- most notably in Minnesota and New York. Nick Boosalis, my great uncle, settled in Williamson, New York outside of Rochester- where he opened The Candy Kitchen, a soda fountain and chocolate shop that became a local staple for generations to come. My cousin still operates it today.
Uncle Nick brought his two nephews, George and John Boosalis (My grandfather) to Williamson from Niata, Greece in the 1950's to help manage his soda fountain and make chocolates.
In October of 1960, Uncle Nick sold his store to his nephews, where they continued the tradition.
ROUTE 104
Williamson, 1950
Williamson, NY- world famous for its apple growing.
36 flavors
East Rochester, 1964
My Grandpa John met my grandmother, Eleftheria (Freida) Hatzinikolaou, when she traveled West on route 104 from Auburn with her uncle to dine at the Candy Kitchen in Williamson. They lived above the restaurant in Williamson for several years while they gave birth to my aunt Maria. They decided to move closer to the city in 1964 and open up another Candy Kitchen in the village of East Rochester. Known for it's 36 homemade ice cream flavors, hand spun shakes, sodas and American/Greek fare, the restaurant remained a local hot spot until the building was torn down due to urban renewal in the 70's. After this, they opened two diners in the city of Rochester: The Sterling Diner and The Royal Knight. The Royal Knight was a 24 hour diner in the heart of the city's east end district for over 40 years, located across from News 10 NBC on East Ave. at the corner of Scio St.
When her parents moved back to Greece in the 80’s, my mother, Tina Boosalis, opened the Browncroft Family Restaurant until she reopened The Royal Knight in the mid 90’s. We closed in the late 90’s as the city went through a lot of change.
the wafel cart
2012
I graduated business school in Philadelphia in 2011 and was wondering what to do with myself. So with the money I saved up from working at Sandisk (the memory card company), I piloted a food cart at the Rochester Public Market with create your own Belgian street waffles. My inspiration for The Wafel Cart was two fold; I wanted to serve dessert items while also doing something fun and new to the city. Within a short few months, The Wafel Cart had quite the following in its first year! I was doing a lot of catering events and being asked to go to RIT, the U of R, many local businesses and even Watkins Glen. The Wafel Cart was also the first food truck or cart to register for the 1st annual food truck rodeo at the public market!
Once the winter set in, however, I couldn’t waffle around as much! My college roommate, Pavlos, called me up and asked if I wanted to apply for a job at Manhattan Plaza Racquet and Health club in Times Square West where he was a tennis pro. I couldn’t resist the chance to live in the “big city,” where I ended up staying for 4 years working as a manager for The Tennis Club of Riverdale in the Bronx, where I also lived. After a while, I was sick of being micromanaged and not appreciated at my job, so I said… “time for a change.”
So That’s when I would plan my great waffle escape in 2016! My manager caught me printing out menu ideas at work. Oops. So I escaped New York after a long 4 years… and ended up down the street from my high school, Webster Schroeder (06’) and back in my hometown!
2016
webster village
and finally opened on October 25th, 2016 at 8pm.
TBC… :)