by Mary-Devon Dupuy

SEVENTH WARD - Last week’s downpours were a pleasant reprieve from the unrelenting sun, but it’s still June in New Orleans, and it’s hot. Mosquitoes are loving it, but all the humans are just getting progressively stickier and crankier. However, there are definitely advantages to New Orleans summers, like pool parties, zoo trips with the kids, and of course, sno balls!
 

It seems like the only people that wouldn’t be excited about Snoball season would be the people behind the counters, but over at “Designed For Your Taste Snack Shack” (1138 Elysian Fields Ave.), we found out from the girls behind the counter that scooping snow isn’t all that bad. 

Employee Brionne Steward said that there are definite perks to her job. “It feels good to work in a snowball place because you get to taste all the different flavors and you stay cool on the inside, you have the air conditioner blowing,” she said. 

However, Steward’s twin sister Bria said that employees do occasionally encounter rowdy behavior from customers outside of the AC.

“Sometimes it gets hectic when a lot of customers come and you’re trying to take their order, and they’re impatient because it’s hot outside,” she said. 

The snack shack, formerly Charley’s Sweet Shop, has been open since 2003, but had to close after Katrina. They’re back, and Brionne Steward told us a little bit about the business. “It was my aunt Charley’s Sweet Shop. We started working it because she went to Columbia in New York to get her Master’s Degree.” Now, Chefs Ray “Tiny” Hockett and his wife Mary own the company. The shop is right off of Elysian Fields, the snack shack piece of “Designed to Your Taste” Catering, LLC,” a catering company with plates of home cooked goodness for $7. 

The snoball stand sits in a little red shack on the side of a larger house, but you can see their brightly colored, snoball-shaped sign from Elysian Fields. Hungry soul food lovers who have never ventured downtown for their snoballs should consider pairing a nice strawberry confection with a plate of fried chicken or a po boy. For more info on catering you can call them at 504-669-0974.