Oh yes or oh no? Pizza cones come to Delaware thanks to new Kono Pizza food truck

Jo Ann Barnes rarely leaves her job at Barclays on the Wilmington Riverfront to grab a meal from the food trucks that daily fill lunch rush bellies.

But when her husband saw that one of her co-workers posted on Facebook that he had just tried a pizza cone from the new Kono Pizza food truck, he mentioned it to her. And she had to see it for herself.

After waiting in line with other hungry curiosity-seekers Friday, she ordered a $6 Margherita Kone, which is a pizza dough cone stuffed with mozzarella, tomato sauce and fresh basil.

The freshly-made hot cone — think of it as a full slice of pizza rolled up into cone form — was in her hand in minutes.

This is the moment pizza snobs might turn up their noses. But if Barnes (and plenty of other cone-eaters) are right, even pizza traditionalists might like these.

"Most people ate it like an ice cream cone, but I'm a picker, so I took pieces of the crust off the top and used it almost like a dip," says Barnes, of Newark. She was one of about 100 people who bought a cone at Kono Pizza's Riverfront debut. "It was delicious and had really fresh ingredients — it was awesome."

She was so hooked, she began following their Instagram page so she can see when they are coming again. 

Kono Pizza first launched in the United States in 2013 after one of its American co-founders, Carlo Ruggiero, discovered the company during a trip to Italy the year before.

Soon, Ruggiero and fellow co-founder David Ragosa were opening Konos across the U.S., starting first with shops at high-traffic locations such as college campuses and airports before switching focus to a more modern food truck model.

The chain's Italian roots remain on display with the parbaked dough cones still imported from Italy. 

In short, Kono's pizza cones aren't a glorified supermarket-bought Totino's Pizza Rolls, although that would be an easy first assumption.

Each one is made to order with local Kono Pizza owners (and sisters) Danielle Sundermeier and Michonne Frohnapfel usually doing the honors.

They take a cone, fill it with cheese, sauce and toppings (choose from pepperoni, sausage or chicken parmigiana) and place it in a specially-made convection oven with circular stands that keep the cones upright.

Once the crust is brown and cheese is bubbling — they use low-skim, low-moisture cheese to limit condensation and grease — the cone is ready to eat in three minutes. 

While other Kono Pizza franchisees have appeared in Delaware in the past, like a visit at the 2016 New Castle County Ice Cream Festival, the state now has its own truck: Kono Pizza Delaware. Frohnapfel, a former Dewey Beach bartender, lives in Hockessin and Sundermeier lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Their truck made its First State debut April 27 at Dew Point Brewing Co. in Yorklyn and just about every person there ended up trying one, either because they were hungry or out of curiosity.

Kono also serves dessert cones with Nutella or with cannoli cream.

"No one said they didn't like it, but when I was taking the garbage out at Dew Point, I found a half-eaten one in the trash," Sundermeier says. "I was really upset, but then I thought maybe someone just dropped it."

David Ragosa, Kono Pizza co-founder and CEO, was at Dew Point for the launch.

"That's an environment where we really do well. Who doesn't love pizza and beer?" he says, hinting that Kono Pizza will likely be popping up at other breweries across the state.

In addition to Delaware, Kono Pizza currently has a dozen food trucks operating in states including Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Texas and California.

There are about six more due to hit the road soon, Ragosa says, joining about six non-traditional kiosk locations at spots such as Penn State University's Beaver Stadium and Bryce Jordan Center.

In fact, someone who works at Barclays was at the Dew Point event and that's how the truck ended up at the office building as part of their support of National Small Business Week. It also visited the DE Turf Sports Complex in Milford last weekend.

Sundermeier first discovered Kono Pizza during a trip to Aruba, got hooked and decided to buy a franchise with her sister, even recently quitting her job as a district manager for Party City. Frohnapfel has kept her job as an intensive care nurse at Christiana Hospital.

"I'm going all in," Sundermeier says. "I think we're a good team and I think I'm too smart to keep working for the man."

Got a tip? Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

PIZZA KONO DELAWARE MENU

CHEESE KONE: Mozzarella and tomato sauce

MARGHERITA KONE: Mozzarella, tomato sauce and fresh basil 

PEPPERONI KONE: Mozzarella, tomato sauce and pepperoni 

CHICKEN PARM KONE: Mozzarella, tomato sauce and chicken 

SAUSAGE KONE: Mozzarella, tomato sauce and sausage 

NUTELLA KONE: Nutella and strawberries 

CANNOLI: Cannoli cream 

UPCOMING KONO PIZZA DELAWARE STOPS

May 31, North Star Swim Club, 100 Saturn Dr., North Star

June 14, Windybush Swim Club, 1635 Windybush Rd., Brandywine Hundred

June 23, DE Turf Sports Complex, 4000 Bay Rd., near Milford

June 28, Elks Swim Club, 1310 Carruthers Lane, Brandywine Hundred

MORE INFORMATION

Go to facebook.com/konopizzadelaware or konousa.com for more details about Kono Pizza.