From the Brunswick Times Record, August 1, 2007. By Rachel Boyd.

Local, fresh, organic ... creamy and tasty

Hattie's Ice Cream Parlor is serving up those ingredients as its recipe for success. Special to The Times Record

BRUNSWICK — Maine wild blueberry gelato, warm dark tropical chocolate sauce, homemade whipped cream and chocolate-covered blueberries.

Sound good?

You're in luck. Hattie's Ice Cream Parlor, Brunswick's newest frozen-dessert eatery offers just that in its Blueberry Surprise sundae. That is, of course, unless you'd prefer cardamom-ginger-infused gelato, mango lemon sorbet, or any of Hattie's other flavors.

Located in an 18th-century house at 185 Park Row, Hattie's opened in June. Owner Wanda Webber Snyder, a Brunswick resident, said local, fresh and organic ingredients are key to her success.

"Sometimes people think organic means it's different from other products," Webber Snyder said. "But once people taste it, they're just wowed by the flavors."

All of Hattie's sorbets and gelato-style ice creams are created by Maple's Organics, an ice-creamery in Portland. Ingredients are local and certified by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

Webber Snyder's emphasis on local products is just as evident in Hattie's ice-cream accompaniments. Robin's Chocolate Sauces are made in Fort Fairfield, ice cream sandwiches are created with chocolate bread from When Pigs Fly bakery in York, and coffee comes from Wicked Joe Coffee Roasting Co. in Brunswick. The store also sells Simply Divine brownies, baked just across town.

Some products, though, had to be imported. The only U.S. supplier Webber Snyder could find for gelato spoons is based in California, so the small, colorful plastic spoons come all the way from across the country.

Webber Snyder's smartest move may be Hattie's hours: The shop is open from noon until 11 p.m. every day. Ever since Brunswick's Ben & Jerry's closed, Webber Snyder said, bars were virtually the only evening hangouts in town.

"That's not necessarily where I want to go," Webber Snyder said. "I thought there needed to be a place downtown where people could gather."

So Hattie's offers a pleasant, air-conditioned seating area, along with benches outside.

About 12 local teens and college students staff the shop throughout the day, and Hattie's partly derives its name from the colorful hats they wear. The other reason for the name, Webber Snyder said, is local history: Harriet Beecher Stowe lived and worked just a block away from the store, and she went to church at First Parish. The church owns Hattie's 185 Park Row building.

Employee Carolyn Hartzell, 18, has been working at Hattie's since it opened. The busiest times, she said, are on sunny days and Saturday evenings, and the top-selling ice creams are raspberries and cream gelato and dark chocolate sorbet. Her favorite flavor?

"It changes every day," Hartzell said.

Though Webber Snyder said that business at Hattie's hasn't been quite as booming as expected, the store already has some local fans. And that's not an easy feat, considering that Cote's ice cream and Bohemian Coffee House's gelato are just steps away, and a new gelato shop — the Gelato Fiasco— is set to open on Maine Street this Friday. Auburn resident Arlene Hawkins said she first discovered Hattie's when parking for a Maine State Music Theatre show, and since then, she's come back every time she's in Brunswick. And first-time visitor Betty Ames said she loves ice cream but tries not to eat too much of it. Hattie's, she said, will prove hard to resist.