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Cookie Spin Opens Friday, Serving Up Sweet Indulgences

By Patty Wetli | November 11, 2016 9:41am
 Cookie Spin Opening in North Center
Cookie Spin Opening in North Center
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NORTH CENTER — He's gotten maybe 12 hours of sleep total in the last week, but Joe Lamondi can't stop smiling.

Cookie Spin, 4350 N. Leavitt St., the 27-year-old's sweet shop, is finally opening for business on Friday after delays waiting on city inspections.

"I'm ready to go, I've been ready to go," said Lamondi.

On Thursday, he could be found in the bakery's shiny new kitchen, whipping up batch after batch of chocolate chip cookie "pies" (Cookie Spin's signature treats are more like muffins), which he'll be handing out for free during the weekend's grand opening festivities.

In addition to cookies, the shop will also serve ice cream, coffee, smoothies, shakes, sundaes and hand-dipped cones coated in hot fudge, melted marshmallow and other flavors.

"I just wanted it to be every indulgence you could find," Lamondi said.

Though he's hired a staff of eight, Lamondi said that he expects to be working open to close daily for the first few months — not to mention handling all of the baking duties, starting at 3 or 4 in the morning.

So yeah, the non-coffee drinker said he'll be availing himself of the shop's caffeinated shake, which had him buzzing through his pre-opening to-do list this week.

While Lamondi's creations are the star of the show at Cookie Spin, the decor is worth a second look as well.

"We kind of wanted to do an industrial look so you feel like you're in the back of a bakery," he said.

Or his grandma's kitchen, the partial inspiration for his shop.

"She was an incredible baker," Lamondi said of his late grandmother, Angeline.

"Every Easter, we'd make calzones. Twenty-five pounds of dough," he said. "I started doing that with her when I was two years old."

Mementos of the woman who inspired Lamondi's love of baking are everywhere at Cookie Spin.

Those aprons hanging above the drinks cooler? They're Angeline's.

The serving plates on the wall? Angeline's.

The whisks, ladles and rolling pins hanging from the light fixtures? Angeline's.

"Some of this stuff is 50 to 60 years old," Lamondi said. "So I have her all around in here."

Cookie Spin's ribbon cutting is set for 12:30 p.m. Friday. Hours of operation will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Wednesday; 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.

The utensils hanging from Cookie Spin's light fixtures belonged to the late grandmother of the shop's owner Joe Lamondi. [All photos DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]

Joe Lamondi puts the finishing touches on batches of cookies in advance of his bakery's opening weekend.

Cookie Spin's industrial decor is designed to feel like the back of a bakery.

Cookie Spin's signature cookie "pies."

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