Weekly scoop of Cherries Jubilee leads to heartfelt friendship between octogenarians and shop owners
Sal Minutella loves the made-to-order ice cream from Atomic Creamery in Fashion Island, but most of all he loves the people who run the store. He and his wife, Adriana, became frequent customers of the ’50s-style ice cream shop shortly after they moved to Newport Coast from New Jersey four years ago.
“Sal and Adriana would come and sit at a table inside, usually on Sundays, so we got to know them since they became regulars, like a fixture. We also met their son and [other family members] whenever they visited,” said Kari Leasure, co-owner of the six-year-old business with her husband, Josh. “We had casual chats and had a lot in common, being from the same region on the East Coast. And since neither of our families lived here, we sort of adopted each other, which is kind of nice.”
Josh Leasure recalls how Sal began reaching out ahead of visits to Atomic Creamery, which ensured his favorite flavor would be in the day’s lineup.
“He started calling me for ice cream orders, which is special because we don’t normally do orders over the phone,” Josh said, explaining that Sal always wanted Cherries Jubilee, one of three rotating “Nostalgic Flavors” ordinarily available on a specific day.
“Sal would call the store and say, ‘Hey, we’re coming down to get some ice cream, and he didn’t have to tell me what kind [he wanted]. If Sal was coming to the store, I would start making Cherries Jubilee every time because I knew that was what he was going to get.”
About two years ago, Josh, a retired Navy Seal, and Kari, a retired nurse, started to notice Adriana’s health declining. Then, this past April, they learned the Minutellas had set up a home health program after Adriana’s dementia progressed. Josh, now 50, and Kari, 47, began calling Sal regularly to check on him, knowing he was carrying a lot on his shoulders.
Sal’s response to the couple’s concern was, “[Adriana] took care of me all my life and now it’s time for me to take care of her.”
Then, in early September, while Sal was having a FaceTime visit with his son, Eric, who lives on Maui, the younger Minutella noticed his dad’s face was red and puffed up. Sal, 84, admitted that he didn’t feel quite right and then provided some details about experiencing vision problems.
After that call, Eric called Atomic Creamery and asked Josh and Kari to go check on his dad, since they were the only people he knew locally who were acquainted with his parents.
In the meantime, Sal decided to drive himself to the hospital.
“When I was on my way to the emergency room my left eye blacked out,” recalled Sal, who also had a problem with his right eye. “That’s when Kari called me and said she and Josh were going to meet me there.”
The hospital wanted to keep Sal overnight, but against doctor’s orders he checked himself out because he had to be home by 4:30 p.m., the time his wife’s caregiver was scheduled to leave their house.
While Kari was driving him home in her car — while Josh drove Sal’s car — the hospital notified them that a prescription to treat Sal’s diagnosed condition, temporal arteritis, would be waiting at the drugstore. It wasn’t.
“The condition had to be treated in a few days, or I could lose my eyesight permanently and with the risk of death down the road,” Sal said. “After they dropped me off, they finally found the medication at an old drugstore [that was listed] on my records. They returned with the medication, even paying for it.
“I made such a wonderful find with those people, I couldn’t have gotten that much help from relatives back in New Jersey,” said Minutella, who added he owed the couple his eternal gratitude for having essentially saved his vision and his life.
“They went out of their way,” he said. “Kari is always checking on me: ‘Did you take your meds?’ How are you feeling?’”
As far as Kari’s concerned, it’s been an easy call for her and Josh to help out their longtime customer and friend.
“I love Sal to death,” Kari said. “When he said, ‘I don’t know how to thank you, you guys literally saved my eyes.’ I don’t see it that way, we just did what was right. We’ve had other customers like that and taken them groceries or to the doctor or dog to the vet. It feels like that’s what you’re supposed to do as humans. Just be kind.”
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
