Southampton's Sip'n Soda brings back chocolate Easter bunnies for limited time

A beloved Easter tradition last offered 40 years ago at Sip'n Soda has hopped its way back to the Southampton luncheonette.

The family restaurant will sell an array of homemade chocolate Easter bunnies, from 2.5-ounce for $7.50 to 15-ounce for $25-35, through April 4. Specialty bunnies standing 14 inches tall sell for $80, while 18-inch tall bunnies run $95. Sip'n Soda will also have homemade chocolate baskets sold individually or prefilled with jelly beans, chocolate foiled eggs and mini foiled bunnies. 

The idea to offer Easter candy hatched last summer. Sip'n Soda owner Mark Parash had rediscovered his family's chocolate molds — last used in 1986 — and when he heard nearby eatery Star Confectionery was closing, he teamed up with owner Anthony Meras to bring back the treat.

"Our families are friends, and I’m in the luncheonette business like he is," Parash said. "I just figured it would be great to have him come and help bring back the tradition."

Meras started at Sip'n Soda at the end of January. He said, "it’s an art form to make that chocolate." He says he spends up to three hours working on the larger bunnies, using Parash's family molds. "I’m there all day," Meras said.

While this is a limited-time partnership, Parash and Meras say they plan to team up again. "We were already just talking about what we’re going to do for next year," Meras said.

Sip'n Soda, 40 Hampton Rd., Southampton, sipnsoda.com, 631-283-9752. Open 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.