For decades, the Ice Palace in Driehuis was a household name in the IJmond. Excellent ice cream, a warm smile and personal attention were the key to success. This success formula will soon make a comeback in De IJsstudio in Krommenie. Nephew Tomas is passionately continuing to build on the legacy that his aunt and uncle have worked on for years.
Passers-by look up curiously when they see Tomas Duyn and his brother-in-law working on a jetty. “I’ll be right there, just finish this,” he shouts. He then hurriedly makes a cup of coffee, starts over a skirting board and quickly wipes a cloth over the display case.
The final touches are clearly still being finalized before the opening. This Saturday is for friends and family, the 17th for Krommenie.
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Tomas certainly finds the entrepreneurial adventure exciting, but the ice cream craft is not entirely unknown to the 27-year-old Heemskerker. For about eight years he was known as Don Gelato, the ice cream casanova, in the Ice Palace in Driehuis – the business of his uncle Rob Kok and aunt Daniëlle Veerman.
In 2021 they will make the decision to stop the extremely popular ice cream parlor. Tomas explains: “My uncle worked seven days in the store, and my aunt mainly worked at the IJscompagagag, their ice cream kitchen in Heemskerk. They were constantly missing each other, so they decided to focus on the IJscompagag, with which they supply to others, and to quit the store. This way they could spend more time together.”
World collapses
“Unfortunately, that didn’t last long,” says Tomas. A year after the couple quit the store and found themselves in calmer waters, Daniëlle suddenly died at the age of 50 from an aneurysm – a local dilation of a blood vessel.
The world of Tomas and his family collapses. “My uncle didn’t know at the time whether he wanted to continue with the Ice Cream Company. It was something he had built up with my aunt. That’s why I offered to help him and apprentice with him in the coming years, with the ultimate intention of to take over.”
Ice dream
Blood flows where it can’t go, because deep down Tomas always knew that his heart belonged to the ice. “I have always told my aunt that it is my dream to start an ice cream parlor. I have looked into it before; my aunt had already come up with the name ‘The Ice Cream Studio’. But the time was not yet right, so I decided to going to try different things.”
“I always told my aunt that my dream is to open an ice cream parlor”
I was searching, Tomas explains. “After I stopped working at the Ice Palace, I had a different job every year. I even started studying again,” he says, raising two eyebrows.
Opportunity
When he gets the chance to help his uncle and make his return to the ice, he doesn’t hesitate for a moment. After a year of being back in the business, the Ice Cream Parlor in Krommenie, to which they already supplied with the Ice Cream Company, becomes available.
“I then went to see it with my friend Suus and left the choice up to her. She ultimately decided: ‘we’re going to do it!’ She has completed a good study, but now we are going to pursue my dream and I am very happy with that,” he says with a secret smile.
“I left the choice up to her and she finally decided: we’re going to do it!”
The brand new ice cream duo is determined to make a name for themselves in Krommenie and the surrounding area, using the same recipe as Rob and Daan. “We are there ourselves, me seven days a week and Suus as much as possible, because she will keep her job for a while. We offer the same homemade ice cream and share a great passion for the profession.”
It is extra special for Tomas that Krommenie is the location of his first business. “My aunt always said that Krommenie would be a beautiful location for me, so it’s nice that everything is coming together now.” Tomas proudly points to the photo on the wall. “That’s where my aunt hangs!”
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This Saturday the couple will open the salon for friends and family. “We will really open on the 17th and people can come for ice creams, milkshakes, sorbets and (personalized) ice cream cakes,” says Tomas proudly.