Jason Dillon and his American bulldog Lucy jumped into their van looking for a new place to call home four years ago.
Jason later found that home in Sandpoint, Idaho, where he and his wife Stephanie Dillon opened Panhandle Cone & Coffee, a cafe and ice cream shop.
“We were driving (into Sandpoint), and I’m like, ‘This is home — I need to be around this,’” Stephanie said.
However, Sandpoint wouldn’t be the store’s only location. The pair recently decided to add a second shop almost 130 miles south in Moscow, which is set to open in early March.
Despite their success, Jason and Stephanie never expected to enter into the coffee and ice cream business, let alone create a business dedicated to both.
“For the longest time, we would ask, ‘If you could do anything you wanted, what would it be?’” Stephanie said. “And he would say, ‘I would open an ice cream coffee shop.’ It was just a dream for a long time.”
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
Owners of Panhandle Cone & Coffee Jason Dillon and Stephanie Dillon plan to open their Moscow store early March.
Before becoming an ice cream connoisseur, Jason was a pastor for 17 years. Although his path shifted, he said he’s retained the values he found in his former career, creating a cream-filled sanctuary one scoop at a time.
“Ice cream, I know, is just frozen cream and sugar,” Jason said. “But it also just kind of gets you away from the day-to-day and everything — it’s kind of this special treat.”
Their business came together quickly once it started, mirroring the ease of their 24-year relationship. But they almost didn’t become a couple.
Stephanie said she didn’t want anything to do with Jason when she first met him in Wyoming. But with her father serving as the town’s pastor, she was expected to welcome all new community members, including her future husband.
“It’s her mom’s fault,” Jason said.
Stephanie said her mother had asked her to invite Jason to dinner on multiple occasions, which helped the two to become better friends and an eventual couple.
At the start of the Sandpoint business, Stephanie did everything, causing her to later learn she was allergic to dairy and couldn’t try their products anymore.
This made it harder for her to feel “confident in ownership,” she said. But her partnership with Jason — both professionally and romantically —allowed her to trust him to take the lead.
Along with co-owning Panhandle Cone & Coffee, Stephanie works as a nurse at Bonner General Health in Sandpoint.
Over time, she said she has learned her role is not always taking care of business, but instead taking care of Jason when he needs it — something they’ve both learned.
“She’s more of a priority than Panhandle Cone & Coffee,” Jason said. “And it’s not worth sacrificing our relationship or business, even if it is ice cream or coffee, which are — outside of human beings — the two most wonderful things in the world.”
Both Stephanie and Jason have taken a step back from the business, with fulltime managers running the Sandpoint shop and eventually the one in Moscow.
They said they can’t believe they found people to work for them who truly value their positions, allowing Jason and Stephanie to trust and invest in their employees.
“When we hand our employees a key, we say, ‘Hey, this our life savings,’” Jason said. “Not to say, ‘Don’t screw it up.’ It’s more like you have our life savings behind you.’”
Their seasonal staff has been just as stellar, with some of their favorite employees coming from the University of Idaho, including their son Nate Dillon. He will work for his parents at the Moscow shop, while getting his degree in mathematics.
Nate’s love for coffee translated well into the second store, as he encouraged his father to have a full coffee bar at the Moscow shop, he said. Like his father, Nate also has a love for “making someone’s day.”
He wants customers to not be afraid to ask for more ice cream samples, saying it isn’t an inconvenience for them. In fact, he appreciates customers who aren’t afraid to ask for what they want, he said.
While the couple takes a step back, Jason will continue making all the ice cream himself. His favorite flavor? Vanilla.
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
“People come in and they apologize, ‘I’m sorry, I just want vanilla.’ The thing that I think bothers me is that they think vanilla is plain,” Jason said. “Vanilla is a really, really good flavor if it’s done right.”
They pay $450 for a pound of vanilla beans, soaking them for eight weeks in a distilled, light rum. They later hand scrape each bean to create their vanilla extract, so it “doesn’t just taste like milk and cream.”
The Sandpoint shop has a few flavors unique to the store, which will also be offered in the Moscow shop.
Along with their exclusive flavors, Panhandle Cone & Coffee is known for their affogato — the pouring of hot espresso onto a scoop of ice cream.
Jason kept Stephanie in mind when creating ice cream by offering non-dairy flavors made with a coconut cream base that allows the ice cream to maintain its creamy texture.
“When we first opened and I could have dairy, my favorite flavor was the orange dark chocolate,” Stephanie said. “(But now) to have one that has the dimensions of flavor, you know, the deeper flavors (that are found in dairy options) — I’ve really been pushing for that.”
Alex Brizee can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @alex_brizee
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misstated the name of Jason, Stephanie and Nate Dillon.