A new business in downtown St. John's is reviving the fan-favourite custard cones from Lar's — and getting a helping hand from the wife of original owner Lar Crocker.

"I feel very, very happy. In memory of Lar," Winnie Crocker told CBC News on Thursday.

We wanted to make sure we paid homage to a particular part of St. John's history. - Chris Andrews

"People would say that the only place you could get a good custard cone was at Lar's. We didn't do anything different really, but it was quite popular."

The custard cones are available at the Newfoundland Embassy, a new pub and restaurant on New Gower Street, in a spot formerly occupied by Lar's Fruit Store, which closed in the early 2000s after years of serving up the creamy treats.

Chris Andrews is the owner of the new eatery, which held its grand opening on Thursday. Andrews said he's pleased to have Crocker, or "Mrs. Lar," as she likes to be referred to, on board for the opening of his new restaurant.

An iconic downtown St. John's treat is returning to a new business at its old location. (Newfoundland Embassy)

Crocker, who is 93, jokes that she must have served a million cones in the nearly half century she owned and operated the store with her late husband Lar.

She estimates she served roughly 700 cones the day that Lar's Fruit Market officially closed.

"There were so many people, friends, coming in and good wishes and a hug and all that," she said.

"I was happy, really. A lot of people were sorry that we were going, but still they understood that I was getting older, work was getting harder and the grocery stores came in, the big supermarkets, and they took some business away from us."

'Always a joy'

For Thursday's grand opening of the new eatery, Crocker brought with her, and proudly displayed, the original apron Lar would wear, while working in the store — a piece of history fit for any local archive.

Chris Andrews of Shanneyganock is the owner of the Newfoundland Embassy pub and eatery in downtown St. John's. (Paula Gale/CBC)

While custard cones and the bright, flickering lights in the display window were the draw, fruit was the business, said Crocker, noting the store often produced the only fruit baskets in the city for a while.

"We did a lot of business that way. We certainly did our best, gave the best, and it was always a joy in doing it," Crocker said.

Not soft-serve!

Andrews said all ice cream isn't created equal — these are custard cones, not soft-serve.

"When we started this project and we were looking at bringing back custard cones, we said the main thing we had to do, because people will be at us, was make sure we weren't serving soft-serve, we were serving custard cones," he told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.

"And there is a difference, and there is a recipe, and we got some hints from Mrs. Lar, and we're pretty close to what the original Lar's custard cone was."

Crocker heard lots of feedback that the custard cones were impressive, but can't pinpoint a reason.

"The people would say that, you know, the only place you can get a good custard cone is at Lar's, right? And we didn't do anything different, really, but it was quite popular," she said.

Crocker is a "magical" person, said Andrews.

"Mrs. Crocker's in her 90s now, still drives, volunteers, lives on her own, goes away for the summer, goes on trips," he said.

The establishment has a different entrances for the custard cones and the pub, and the custard section includes a makeshift shrine to the Crockers, Andrews said.

"She's thrilled to death that we're going to keep it rolling, you know, the memory of Lar and what herself and Lar did down there."

Interior redone

The trip down memory lane will be limited to the cones themselves, said Andrews, as the interior is completely different from when it was Lar's.

"When you walk in, you won't get a memory of Lar's, I don't think, because we've redone it all and it has a real cozy kind of pub, restaurant feel. But we wanted to make sure we paid homage to a particular part of St. John's history," he said.

"I love the past. Things from even before my youth, I still think are really cool, and I hate seeing things disappear like that, so it was just a chance we had to make a little bit of old St. John's stick around a little bit longer."

With files from The St. John's Morning Show

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