A fire like one that destroyed the kitchen and damaged production machines at OnoPops in November is enough to sink any business.

But chef-owner Josh Lanthier-Welch, who described himself as “stubborn,” refused to go down. With the help of insurance and a GoFundMe campaign that raised nearly $7,000 from fans, friends and the community, the company specializing in gourmet paletas, or, as the name implies, ono frozen pops, is back in a big way.

With a restored kitchen in Iwilei, Lanthier-Welch was able to launch a new pairing concept, Pop, Drop and Roll, during the “Joy of Sake” event on July 22. It turns his treat on a stick into a three-part dessert experience.

His initial combo was an artistic reflection on the fire that put him out of business for about six months, but also gave him time to think about new directions. His Phoenix Rising from the Ashes combo takes its cue from the Phoenix cocktail, with its fiery red and orange hues. The dessert confection starts with an orange carrot-ginger paleta paired with Manoa honey sauce for coating and kiawe charcoal shortbread dust for dipping.

Each of his trios includes a crunch factor often associated with a fruit crumble, and why not? The paletas start with fresh organic fruit and 100 percent local ingredients, from cacao to Naked Cow Dairy products.

Some of the combinations being rolled out at the Kapiolani Community College Saturday Farmers Market include a rich purple sweet potato paleta served with vanilla cream sauce and pate sucree, a classic French pastry dough; another trio is a vanilla paleta paired with Waialua Estate chocolate sauce and macadamia nut crunch; and finally, there is the less traditional guava-tamarind paleta served with coriander syrup and iso peanut candy crunch.

The first two are likely to be most popular, while the herbal flavor of the coriander syrup will appeal most to those who already appreciate the flavor of coriander.

Though an unusual combination for Hawaii, it’s common in Filipino and Mexican desserts, said Lan­thier-Welch — who graduated from Punahou School in 1988 and spent 20 years as a chef/caterer in San Francisco before returning home.

The cost of a Pop, Drop and Roll with a mini paleta is $5; the cost with a full-size paleta is $6 at KCC, and $6 and $7, respectively, at Eat the Street.

The combos will also be available at Eat the Street’s monthly street food fests at Makers & Tasters in Kakaako, including the Spicy Fest from 5 to 10 p.m. Aug. 26, and the Oktoberfest celebration during the same hours on Sept. 30. His spicy combo will comprise sweet cream ice cream with organic cracked black pepper, served with guava-chili pepper jam and crystalized ginger.

On any given morning, Lanthier-Welch and his small staff can be found in their Iwilei kitchen, chopping fresh guavas, taro and other produce, and coaxing the essence of vanilla from pods grown in Laie.

A lot of labor goes into the more than 30 flavors of OnoPops.

It’s worth all the trouble if he’s able to help local farmers in some small way, Lanthier-Welch said.

Since he started the company with his brother Joe in 2010, with a mission of serving great paletas incorporating fresh local produce, things have not improved for the ag industry.

“Instead, we have seen Hawaiian agriculture in greater decline than when we started — we’ve seen the end of Maui sugar, the closing of several large farms on the Big Island and the loss of ag land to development on Kauai and Oahu,” he said.

“We cannot do enough for local agriculture. We gotta get people to buy local.”

Reach Nadine Kam at nkam@staradvertiser.com. For more photos from this week’s article go to takeabite.staradvertiserblogs.com.