When the mercury broke the 60-degree mark on Tuesday, Gothamist immediately began obsessing about frozen confections. Rest assured, the irony of the situation wasn't lost on us. If anyone offered us an ice cream cone during the recent cold snap that saw temps in the teens, things might have gotten ugly.
As is often the case when we crave cold comfort, Gothamist was soon strolling the Tudor-lined streets of Forest Hills Gardens with one destination in mind: Eddie’s Sweet Shop. This classic ice-cream parlor hasn't changed much since it was built almost a century ago. Upon entering we often expect to see one of the Little Rascals sitting at the counter with hot fudge dripping down his chin.
Owner Vito Citrano and his family make some two dozen flavors of ice cream, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, mint chip, butter pecan, rum raisin, etc., as well some more unusual ones, like pineapple-pistachio. Many folks, like the British family seated in the booth behind us who ordered a mint-chip with marshmallow sauce and coffee ice cream with walnuts and syrup, come for Eddie’s old-timey sundaes.
While Gothamist loves the sundaes, lately we can’t seem to get away from the orange freeze. Tuesday was no exception. We ordered this dense shakelike concoction that dates back to the days of soda jerks. Think of it as a liquid creamsicle. Citrano isn't sure which came first, but his frosty drink tastes just like the orange and vanilla popsicle of our youth. A scoop of vanilla ice cream and two of orange sherbet are topped off with seltzer and whipped to a density that approaches depleted uranium, all the better to lower your core temperature. Due to a lapse of judgment brought on by rapid chillout, Gothamist almost suggested that Citrano introduce shakes spiked with white spirits.
As we were leaving we asked Citrano whether he expected an increase in business to due to the warm weather and he told us “most likely.” So began an informal poll of sorts. We started with another old-school Queens establishment, The Lemon Ice King of Corona. On Wednesday, the King’s Michael Zampino told us, “It’s better than a typical January day.” From old-school Italian ices in Queens we moved on to nouveau Lower East Side gelato and called John Schneider owner of Il Laboratorio del Gelato who told us; “in the last two days we probably did about three times as much business as we normally do this time of year.” To round things out we called Grom, the Italian gelato shop on the West Side that spawned lines stretching around the corner when it opened this summer. Owner Nicolo de Rienzo told us that while it didn't approach the frenzy that accompanied Grom's opening, traffic was up "at least 30% Tuesday afternoon."
With temperatures ramping down to more seasonable levels and snow in the forecast for early next week, we're seriously considering stockpiling all manner of frozen treats and turning up the heat.
Eddie's Sweet Shop, 105-29 Metropolitan Ave., Forest Hills, 718-520-8514
Lemon Ice King of Corona, 52–02 108th St., Corona, 718-699-5133
Il Laboratorio del Gelato, 95 Orchard St., 212-343-9922.
Grom, 2165 Broadway, 646-290-7233
