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Sweet Tart owner Myoshi Cambra, right, suggests frozen yogurt toppings to friends Nancy Foth, front, and Nancy Iannucci, background, Thursday. (Credit: Rachel Young photos)

Sweet Tart owner Myoshi Cambra, right, suggests frozen yogurt toppings to friends Nancy Foth, front, and Nancy Iannucci, background, Thursday. (Credit: Rachel Young photos)

Former nurse’s aide Miyoshi Cambra opened Sweet Tart Frozen Yogurt Café in downtown Riverhead for a variety of reasons.

The first? Her entire family is lactose intolerant and the tasty treat is easy on their tummies. The second? She was tired of having to drive to shops in Manorville or Mattituck to satisfy her fro-yo cravings. The third? She thought East Main Street was the perfect spot to establish her first business.

“I thought, ‘You know what? Downtown Riverhead would benefit from a frozen yogurt shop — a place where everybody can come, no matter their age.’ ”

Cambra, who lives in Riverhead with her husband, James Foster, and their three kids, quietly opened Sweet Tart in March. The eatery will celebrate a grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony tomorrow, May 8, at noon. From noon to 2 p.m., customers can enjoy any size frozen yogurt with unlimited toppings for $5. Deals will extend throughout the weekend.

“It’s nice to have a place like this locally,” said Nancy Foth of Riverhead, who works at the nearby Suffolk County Supreme Court and was visiting the shop Thursday with her friend Nancy Iannucci of Bayport. “I can walk to it from work.”

Sweet Tart is located next-door to the former Athens Grill, which sustained extensive damage during a 2013 fire and will reopen later this year as Mazi. Cambra began renting Sweet Tart’s building, which once housed a small Hispanic grocery store, in July. Her husband, a carpenter by trade, gave the space a makeover using tile flooring and reclaimed wood. Mr. Foster also built a large wooden sectional for the shop’s back deck, which faces the Peconic Riverfront.

Toppings at Sweet Tart in Riverhead include fresh fruit and popping bobas, which are shaped like bubbles and filled with fruit juice.
Toppings at Sweet Tart in Riverhead include fresh fruit and popping bobas, which are shaped like bubbles and filled with fruit juice.

If you like going heavy on toppings then you’ll love filling a 16- or 20-ounce cup at Sweet Tart, which offers 12 flavors of frozen yogurt including cherry limeade sorbet (an unofficial Northforker favorite), sea salt caramel pretzel and Tahitian vanilla. Unlike some shops, the frozen yogurt Cambra serves isn’t made using a powdered mix, she said. The store also carries fresh, organic Greek yogurt from Brooklyn supplier Culture.

“The Greek yogurt is really starting to pick up,” Cambra said. “People say, ‘I don’t want to eat fresh Greek yogurt but when they taste it they say ‘This is really yummy.’ And it’s a nice, healthy option.”

Toppings, of which Cambra said there are at least 28, include everything from fresh berries and coconut flakes to fun-sized Snicker’s bars and Nutella chocolate sauce heated Fondue-style. For those with curious palates, there are also popping bobas, a bubble-shaped topping that bursts fruit juice onto your tongue when you take a bite.

“Everybody comes in and is like, ‘What is that?’” Cambra said with a laugh. “That’s been really exciting for us. Giving everybody suggestions is my favorite part because I love coming up with different ways to eat the fresh and the frozen yogurt.”

Sweet Tart Frozen Yogurt Café Shop is located at 37 East Main St. in downtown Riverhead. Frozen yogurt is sold in 16- or 20-ounce cups for $.49 per ounce; Greek yogurt is sold for $.65 per ounce. Store hours are noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Call 631-591-3131 for more information.

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