Marble Slab delivers fresh, homemade flavors

Ice cream has been around since at least the 4th century B.C.

The Roman emperor Nero ordered ice to be brought from the mountains and combined it with fruit toppings. King Tang of China had a method of creating ice and milk concoctions.

After the dessert was imported to the United States, it was served by the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to their guests.

Tomorrow marks the day Marble Slab will open its doors to Houma, blending its very own homemade ice cream with dozens of mix-ins to create unique combinations of the tasty treat.

Pam Prestenbach spent nearly 30 years working for Rite Aid Drug Store before becoming a Marble Slab franchise owner.

“My husband (Clyde) and I went out to eat one day in New Orleans and had ice cream at the Marble Slab there. I came back home from work the next day and he was already on step eight out of 10 of buying a franchise. So I said, ‘Ok, I guess we’re going to run an ice cream shop,'” she laughed.

The couple launched into finding a location for their business and settled on the old Dagwood’s location on Martin Luther King Boulevard. They began in December by gutting the building right down to the slab. After a couple of construction delays, among those finding someone who could hang wallpaper with a challenging pattern, they’re finally ready to open.

“They picked the hardest wallpaper to hang. There are only three or four stores throughout the whole chain that have this look. A big thing my husband really wanted was for things to be visible, for you to be able to see your ice cream being mixed on the slab. We also changed the mix-in jars to be more attractive and bought different containers for the fresh fruit,” Prestenbach said.

“Staffing was really easy. We have the greatest bunch of kids and they’re so excited to work for Marble Slab. You don’t know how many people are walking in thinking I’m open already. They’re knocking on the door saying, ‘I’m so glad you’re coming. I love Marble Slab!'”

The ice cream franchise got its beginnings in Houston and that’s where the Prestenbachs trained in the art of the slab. They worked in a store to learn how to make ice cream, which to their delight they were able to sample.

Marble Slab provides the mix and recipes which the couple learned how to combine with other fresh ingredients into an ice cream freezer. Each batch takes about eight minutes to freeze and is then transferred into a blast freezer for 12 hours. From there it goes to another holding freezer and then out on display for hungry customers.

The business owners also had to learn the method of mixing.

“It was harder than it looked until you got the hang of it. We were just so nervous when our first customer (in Houston) came up. My mind went blank,” Prestenbach laughed.

The first thing customers will notice when entering Houma’s Marble Slab will be the aroma of the hand rolled, freshly-baked waffle cones.

The decisions don’t stop with choosing either ice cream or yogurt, shake or float, sundae or smoothie, or any other number of treats.

Ice cream flavors include sweet cream, vanilla bean, strawberry, cheesecake, peanut butter banana, chocolate Swiss, chocolate peanut butter, birthday cake, mango, caramel, bubblegum, praline, coconut, pina colada, key lime, blueberry, cotton candy…you get the picture.

Mix-ins include assorted sprinkles, fresh fruit, nuts, candies, cookie dough, granola, marshmallows, cookies and much more.

Once the final choices are made, the ice cream is scooped onto the frozen marble slab where the fruits, nuts and candies are skillfully blended in to create a one-of-a-kind treat.

“We’re also going to have frozen yogurt and the new tart frozen yogurt that’s all the craze right now. Most Marble Slabs have one yogurt machine but we’ll actually have three with six flavors of yogurt including green tea, mango and coconut,” Prestenbach said.

Not only will the Marble Slab crew be busy making and serving ice cream, but they’ll also make ice cream cakes featuring flavors such as Caramel Peanut Butter Crisp, Cookie Dough Drizzle, Sweet Cream and Strawberries, Swiss Cocoa Buttercup, Turtle and Vanilla Oreo.

“The ice cream cakes have cake in the bottom with ice cream on top. We’ll have two display freezers with quite a few on display. You can just walk in and buy one or you can order one online,” Prestenbach noted.

Another feature of Marble Slab is the portable slab for catering. Prestenbach said she’s going to wait for six months or so before taking her ice cream on the road though. She wants to give her staff time to get well trained and settled in first.

“We’ll also have celebrity scoop nights where we’ll get someone like from the fire station, a school or charity group to come scoop. A percentage of the sales that night will go to their charity,” Prestenbach said.

So after sampling all those flavors of ice cream over the years and during her recent training, which is Prestenbach’s favorite?

“My favorite is probably sweet cream. That’s just the regular ice cream mix that I get with strawberries. I get that more than anything. We went to Houston a couple of weeks ago to pick up a yogurt machine and I had the homemade strawberry mixed with the sweet cream and strawberries in it. It’s just so good,” she said.

“It’s been a challenge with the build out and now it’s time to open. We just wanted to be in business for ourselves and we believe it’s a great concept. My husband works offshore as a crane operator and he’s going to continue doing that. Eventually hopefully he’ll retire and this is what we’ll be doing. It’s something that we’re really going to enjoy.”

The Marble Slab Creamery opens its doors for business this Thursday in Houma. Owner Pam Prestenbach said the ice cream she serves is made fresh in her shop. JENNIE CHILDS