CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK
February 24, 2008
Sunday Gazette-Mail
23L
Owner likes pizza place’s intimacy, familial air
By Kelly Holleran
[email protected]
Cary Charbonniez always
knew that if she opened her
own restaurant, she wanted it to
be a fun place.
Her wishes came true in December 2005 when she opened
Lola’s.
She had graduated from New
England Culinary Institute in
Vermont.
When she saw that the little
place in South Hills was for sale,
she jumped at the chance to buy
it.
Cary, 34, had grown up in
Charleston and her then
boyfriend/now husband, Pierre,
33, still lived in the city, so it was
an easy decision to make.
She opened the restaurant
and named it Lola’s after her
great-grandmother.
“She was a very strong
woman and a very good
woman,” she said.
She hoped the same would be
true of her restaurant.
So far, things have gone well.
There are about 10 employees
at the restaurant, including three
cooks and a dishwasher.
They make all the dough and
sauce for the pizzas. They
caramelize their onions.
Even the recipes are Cary’s
own.
There is more to running a
business than just making food,
though, as Cary quickly found
out.
“I’m more involved in different aspects of the business than
I thought I would be,” she said.
“There is lots of paperwork involved. It’s gone a lot smoother
than I expected. I think that it’s
been pleasantly surprising.”
Anyone can tell just by walking into the establishment that
it’s not your run-of-the-mill pizza joint.
Colorful paintings decorate
brightly colored walls. Benches
with pillows line walls on one
side of the building. A small bar
sits to the right of the entrance.
Maybe that’s the secret to the
success of the business, Cary
said.
“I think that we are very family- and friend-oriented,” she
said. “I think it’s a good neighborhood establishment.”
She likes owning a small business and would like to keep it
that way.
Her only future plans are to
add a deck to the business in
the spring or the summer, she
said.
She credits the community
for her success, and is grateful
for their encouragement.
“Thank you to all the people
that support us,” she said.
Her home life has been evolving at the same pace as her
restaurant.
In January of 2007, Cary and
Pierre got married.
At the same time, Pierre started his own business, Charbonniez Designs.
He creates concrete countertops for everything from
kitchens to bathrooms to reception desks.
One of his pieces — a bench
— is on display at Taylor Books.
He also built the new bar in
Cary’s restaurant.
His first piece was the bar in
the Vandalia Lounge, where he
formerly worked with his broth-
CRAIG CUNNINGHAM/Sunday Gazette-Mail
Jon O’Dell slices a pizza while owner Cary Charbonniez stretches some pizza dough in the kitchen at Lola’s restaurant in Charleston’s South
Hills section. In the background are chefs Ryan Webster, left, and Jon Byer.
Waiter Ian Bode pours some wine while David Calhoun and Lisa Lynn sit at the bar at
Lola’s restaurant in South Hills. In the background, Edwardo Canelon plays Latin
style guitar.
Waitress Betty Gay rushes a pizza to a customer while
manager Mike Medley checks on an order in the kitchen
at Lola’s restaurant in South Hills.
er-in-law, Virgil Sadorra.
That experience inspired him
to try make a go of it on his
own.
He worked in construction
out West for a number of years
and had noticed the trend.
Concrete counters are finally
becoming popular in the area,
and Pierre hopes to see his
business grow.
He has done a number of
a great staff,” she said.
Pierre and Cary work opposite hours, so that has been
helpful, too.
He usually gets home about 6
p.m. and she goes to work about
4 p.m. The couple hires a
woman to help take care of
their daughters three days a
week during the two-hour pocket.
In the end, all the work is
pieces in the area, including a
reception desk at Ashland Oil.
He is working on a piece for
Stonewall Resort.
Recently Cary and Pierre have
been busy not only working, but
also taking care of their 8month-old twins, Iris and Zoe.
Cary still works a few days a
week. She has an office at her
house where she also spends
some time working. But it’s not
nearly the amount of time she
is used to putting in.
“Up until the time the girls
were born, I was up here every
night,” she said.
She plans to work full-time
again beginning in June.
For now, her staff is giving her
a lot of help. Ryan Webster, an
employee, takes care of things
when Cary is not there.
“I’ve been so fortunate to have
worth it, Pierre and Cary said.
“It’s really cool because no
matter what happens with your
day, when you see your little
girls smile at you, it’s all good,”
he said.
Cary couldn’t agree more.
“Having a family is so wonderful,” she said.
“At the end of the day, whatever sacrifices you have to
make, it’s all worth it.”
Sweet dreams coming true for baked goods proprietor
By Charlotte Ferrell Smith
[email protected]
The sweet aroma of fresh
baked goods wafts from the Purple Turtle at nearly any hour.
Items are baked fresh on a daily, and nightly, basis to meet demand.
The little Sissonville bakery
sells an abundance of goodies
from cakes, pies, cookies and
pastries to pepperoni rolls, specialty breads and assorted sugarfree items.
The Purple Turtle celebrates a
successful one-year anniversary
on Feb. 24. While many new
food-based businesses fold after
only a year, the Purple Turtle is
thriving.
There are faithful customers
in the community as well as
others who drive from Huntington, Beckley and Clarksburg.
Even out-of-state folks make a
point to stop when they are on
their way through the area because friends have raved about
the place.
“We do a really good business,” said owner Donna Davis.
“I would really love to thank our
customers. Some come every
day for coffee and breakfast.
Our local customers are fantastic.”
Davis loves her dream job of
making icing, cakes, pastries and
dough from original secret
recipes. She also loves seeing satisfied customers and being part
of special occasions when she
makes wedding cakes.
She took a leap of faith to
open her bakery and is thankful
to all who give her business a
boost. Even though her business
is small, she gives back to the
Glass cases are filled with fresh baked goodies that sell
quickly at the Purple Turtle Pastry Shop near Sissonville.
TOM HINDMAN/Sunday Gazette-Mail
Purple Turtle owner Donna Davis creates pepperoni rolls with dough made from
scratch. Her business celebrates a successful one-year anniversary on Feb. 24.
community when she can by donating goods for area schools or
organizations to re-sell at
fundraisers. She has also taken
items to homeless shelters and a
nearby funeral home when there
are visitations.
She left a good job with ben-
efits 12 years ago to open the
bakery. She said she was working with wonderful people at
NGK Spark Plugs in Sissonville
where she was warehouse manager. Her colleagues were so
happy for her that they helped
her get going by doing every-
thing from serving as tasters to
picking up equipment out of
state that she bought on eBay.
She also has a dedicated crew
of employees and relatives to
keep things running smoothly.
Her husband, Kenny Davis, a
Carbide retiree, helps out on
CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK
weekends. Her mother, Bodie
Haynes, helps as needed. Niece
Kippi Harmon helped a steady
stream of customers at the counter on a recent morning. Doughnut makers are cousins Lee
Leach and Tonja Jordan. The
only worker who is not related
is Debbie Thompson, who works
the counter and does assorted
other chores.
“We all do a little of everything,” Davis said.
Among the best sellers are
hot dogs, doughnuts filled with
buttercream icing, and pepperoni
rolls created from dough made
from scratch and generously
stuffed with pepperoni and
cheese.
All recipes are secrets that
took months and sometimes
years to perfect. Davis was very
young when she learned to bake
alongside her mother. As a young
mother herself, she took a cake
decorating class at Sissonville
High School. She later landed a
job as a decorator at Spring Hill
Pastry Shop. She worked there
for eight years before leaving for
NGK.
She is now working long, hard
hours but finds her dream job
very rewarding.
Glass cases are filled with virtual works of art that beg to be
touched and tasted. It’s a parade of doughnuts, hot dogs,
nutty devils, regular and personal-sized pies, gigantic peanut
butter cookies, cinnamon and
pecan rolls, turnovers, éclairs
and napoleons.
While Davis dotes on all her
customers, she loves the gleaming eyes of little ones with their
faces pressed against the glass as
they choose a special cupcake or
cookie. Seeing their excitement
makes it worth wiping off the fingerprints, she said.
Purple Turtle Pastry Shop,
6842 Sissonville Road, is open
6:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday
through Friday. The shop is
closed Sunday and Monday. For
more information check out the
Web site www.purpleturtlepastry.com or call 984-3600.