The popular Sweet Peaks Ice Cream shop will begin serving up cones at a new location at City Beach this summer, with a new addition for beach-goers craving a little savory along with their sweet – locally sourced hot dogs.
Sweet Peaks Ice Cream owners Marissa Keenan and Sam Dauenhauer were recently awarded the concessions contract from the City of Whitefish, and plan on opening at the existing concessions stand on Whitefish Lake June 12.
In addition to the standard flavors of their homemade ice cream – huckleberry, salty caramel – the couple will offer beef and chicken hot dogs from Lower Valley Processing in Kalispell, as well as a vegan option and local drinks, like cold brew coffee from Montana Coffee Traders – the menu includes a cold brew float – and homemade lemonade.
“We want to source as many local ingredients as possible because that’s what we like to do,” Keenan said.
The hot dogs will feature traditional toppings as well as creative options using Mother Goosey’s Sauerkraut in Whitefish.
The Continental Divide Dog will be topped with cream cheese and sauerkraut, while a chicken dog will be heaped with spinach and pesto.
“We’ll play around with different toppings and gauge the response, but we want to do something that makes it more of a destination than it already is, and a place to take your family and have some dogs and ice cream,” Keenan said.
Although the Sweet Peaks brand will be present as always, Keenan and Dauenhauer are calling the summertime concessions stand Burly’s Gourmet Hot Dogs and Ice Cream, a play on the legacy of Burlington Northern Railway, which tracks along the lake.
Keenan said the couple submitted a proposal to the city for a one-year contract when the concessions went out for bid, in part because they live near the beach and frequent it with their family. They saw a niche in which to expand and seized on the opportunity.
“We just thought how great it would be to serve our ice cream right on the lake and also try something different,” Keenan said. “We love the area and the beach sees a lot of traffic so we saw this as a great opportunity for us to expand for the summer.”
In addition to the Sweet Peaks location in downtown Whitefish, which Keenan and Dauenhauer opened five years ago this spring, they’ve opened shops in Kalispell, Bigfork and Missoula, which are all thriving.
The summertime concessions stand allows them to hire 12 new seasonal employees. During previous summers, Keenan has had to turn away applicants looking for seasonal work.
“We get so many applicants at Sweet Peaks in Whitefish that we are not able to hire everyone, so this also gives us an opportunity to hire 12 more people which is pretty awesome,” she said.
The concessions stand will also serve as a pick-up location for the city’s free lunch program, which previously distributed the daily meals to students from a mobile van.
The new location will be open daily until roughly dusk through Labor Day.
For more on Sweet Peaks, visit them online at www.sweetpeaksicecream.com.