Whether you’re craving confections or looking to kick back with a bestseller, Fountain Bookshop in Washington Heights will gladly assist.
The newly-opened storefront brings together the best of both worlds: an independent bookstore and an ice cream shop — two necessary ingredients for the uptown neighborhood.
“We need a place that’s not in our homes where we can go, look at titles, let our minds think about something big — or think about nothing for 10 minutes and just look at covers,” says owner Karah Pinto, who is also the owner and executive chef of the neighboring Dutch Baby Bakery.
Her latest venture is the marriage between her two careers as an English professor-turned pastry chef. And without knowing it, Karah managed to sprinkle her roots into the mix to add some flavor to the sweet space. Her “tiny, tiny” hometown has an old-timey soda fountain with the classics like egg creams, cherry sodas, and root beer floats (items Karah is planning to add to her own menu).
“It was such a sweet, special place in this little, tiny community,” she says. “And so without even realizing it, that was kind of a touchstone to me as I was thinking through the design. And I think that natural, sweet hominess is very alluring to people.”
Currently, Karah is scooping flavors from Jane’s Ice Cream, a Kingston staple, and planning to add sweets and sundaes in the near future. Right in time for the holiday season, she will also offer a lineup of hot chocolate flavors in the coming weeks, from classic peppermint to more experimental flavors with a hint of toasted coconut.
As far as the literary component, Karah has that on lock, too, with well-stacked shelves and a variety of genres. She’s kicking off bilingual story times on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10:15, housing a pre-formed middle grade reading group, and will introduce book clubs in a variety of genres, including romance, mystery/thriller, and history, to name a few. Plus, she is taking advantage of the “beautiful creativity and wealth of resources right in our backyard” by communicating with local authors.
All in all, New Yorkers are excited for this new chapter of its Washington Heights community, and we have a feeling it’s off to a sweet start.
“Whether [customers] come in for an ice cream or browse for 30 minutes, for me it’s really special that I could curate a space where everyone is welcome to come in and look around and no one is judging your ideas,” Karah says. “There’s going to be a book that’s appealing to you and it’s going to be so different than the book that appeals to me, and that’s really great. I love the fact that I can help make that happen!”
📍 803 West 187th St
⏰ Daily 10am-7pm