The red, white, and blue color scheme of Cherries Ice Cream Bar & Deli, in Stone Ridge, has been swapped out with a sharp, black-and-white finish, as two new owners recently took over the business.

“We thought, let’s make the [ice cream and food] the color and let the building fade into the background,” said Cherries’ new co-owner Lawrence O’Toole.

O’Toole and his wife Jolene Delisle opened their reimagined Cherries storefront (4162 Route 209, Stone Ridge) in May, with a goal of offering high-quality ice cream and eats at reasonable prices. This is the couple’s first serious venture into the restaurant industry, and they’re hoping to retain and embolden this treasured community space for those who’ve loved it for so long.

The building was sold by Cherries’ previous owners Alyson and John Reidy. O’Toole explained that the storefront was conjoined with the Reidy’s home, where work and home life were intertwined for many years. O’Toole said that the Reidys were looking to make a change in their life and take a break from the restaurant grind when he looked to purchase the space.

O’Toole and Delisle are part-time Manhattan residents who bought a home in Kerhonkson in 2019. A lifetime ago, the two both worked in restaurants as servers, bussers and bartenders, and Delisle even worked in an ice cream shop. Today, the two operate their own branding agency, called The Working Assembly, where they craft the public images of numerous businesses. Coincidentally, the duo recently worked with The Museum of Ice Cream, based in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City.

“We kind of joked about having a little roadside stand, but it was nothing we pursued,” O’Toole explained. “We were in the area and Cherries was always there. We thought it was a happy place to enjoy the summer and that attracted us.”

When they brought up the casual idea around a friend in the real estate business, they were told that the business was just put on the market. Discussions about purchasing the business started in the fall of 2021 before the deal was finalized this March.

O’Toole always had an affinity for architecture, and admired the mid-century, roadside restaurant-style bones of the building from the start. He wanted to slice away at some of the additions made to the building, to highlight its vintage appearance, and started by removing the indoor shack where people used to order food. Glistening, white tiles are now the centerpiece of the front of the building, along with a new sign. A number of plants were removed from a side patio on the building to offer more space for patrons.

The new owners are looking to upgrade the ingredients in their menu to offer savory and relatively healthy options for diners. O’Toole said they recently started buying regular ice cream from a Red Hook-based ice cream maker and dairy farmer, while the soft-serve ice cream is now made with all-natural ingredients. Due to staffing issues, not uncommon with nearby businesses, and the trials of starting a new eatery, O’Toole said that it would take a while to build up the rest of the food menu to its former glory. But the same quality ingredients would be incorporated into the other eats at the new Cherries, like plans to offer a grass-fed beef burger on a gourmet bun. O’Toole is working on a way to not jack-up menu prices at the same time.

O’Toole understands that change can be alarming to some people. But he hopes that locals will see that Cherries is still the community hub that it used to be, with a fresh take and new faces.