Business & Tech
Who's Who: Andrea Tung of Kensington's Sugar Cone Cafe
Every weekday we feature an interview with someone who lives, works or goes to school in El Cerrito or Kensington.
Name: Andrea Tung
Age: “Let's just say that the only reason why I started this business is because I’m in a mid-life crisis.”
Occupation: Co-proprietor of Sugar Cone Café in Kensington
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Why did you decide to open your ice cream shop in Kensington? Actually my husband and I live just up the street. (They opened the shop together.) This was an existing ice cream store, and it’s been one for 20 years. We’ve always sort of had our eye on it. We just felt like there was so much potential. People seemed to want an ice cream store, but it seemed to need a little more cheeriness to it. We have a good friend, Alfred Schilling, who has his own catering company and provides all of our desserts. That was one of the things we thought about, having Alfred Schilling’s desserts along with ice cream and great coffee.
We lived in San Francisco for a long time, and we wanted to bring an element of San Francisco to Kensington, but keep that neighborhood feel to it. We try to stay locally focused. We sponsor a Little League team in Albany and we do a lot of events for Kensington schools and . We want to be the destination for the community but also make a name for ourselves.
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Do you feel the reception has been good on this little strip in Kensington? We’ve had amazing reception. I think that this area has a lot of potential. A lot of people go to . We have some friends that just took over the Chevron, and they’re trying to do some new things there. And we have friends that own 269 The Arlington. So a lot of young blood, and people are excited about it.
And you’re probably working a lot as a new business owner, but what are your hobbies? Oh (pauses).
People seem to have a hard time with that question. What do you enjoy? I like to go up to the wine country. Now, I’m thinking about all the things I used to do that I don’t do anymore. I love to go on walks near the ocean. My husband and I love trying out new places to eat. We both grew up in Albany, but we just love the lifestyle of San Francisco. The excitement of going to plays—I’d say in terms of hobbies, we go out and spend time with our two kids on walks, really exploring and trying new places. Traveling is a huge thing; it’s like my favorite thing. Exploring other cultures and ideas—that’s been a really interesting thing with this business. I’m learning a lot about regional desserts.
