Ice cream parlors were quite popular some years back. You would sit at the counter and enjoy a
malted milk shake, egg cream or a few scoops of store made ice cream with hot
fudge, nuts, whipped cream and cherries atop.
That swivel stool allowed you to see who was coming in as well as the
wooden décor. Tables of customers were “partying”
at the tables with ice cream, rather than alcohol. Somehow there was a nearby movie theatre where
the ending of the film brought a line of “We all scream for ice cream” lovers,
not just for the cold delight but a way to have a conversation after the
experience.
I can remember Jahn’s being the place to go with locations
in various parts of New York City and always in a group. We would order their
famous Kitchen Sink. There is the one last location in Queens, accept that
serving food is the priority.
Alas, there is one true parlor that’s still an icon. Eddie’s Sweet Shop, located in Forest Hills, continues
the nostalgia with pressed tin ceilings, antique cash registers, polished
marble counters and those cast-iron swivel stools. More important is that the
ice cream is made fresh on the premises.
Eddie is no longer there, legend living on and becoming a
family affair. Vito Citrano is the owner and “chef” who prepares and churns the
ice cream as well as concocting the sauces and whipped cream. Angelina, his wife, runs the shop as she focuses
on the customers. Vito’s son, Brandon, and Vito’s father, Joe can be found
behind the counter preparing the mouth-watering treats.
Last week I wrote about my first time having ices from Lemon
Ice King, despite my living in Queens for…let’s just say, “a very long
time.” I will now have to admit that
despite passing by Eddie’s this was the first time I entered. OMG, I can
certainly understand its popularity.
Aside from what I already described, the was a counter with shelves of
various candies…okay it did not have the nostalgia of a Necco Sky Bar, Dots and
Chuckles, but there was certainly enough to choose from.
I looked up at the list of flavors: banana, butter pecan,
coffee, chocolate, coffee chip, cherry vanilla, maple walnut, mint chip,
pistachio, run raisin, strawberry, tutti fruti, vanilla, vanilla chip, vanilla
fudge, raspberry sherbet, orange sherbet.
Next to this were the toppings: butter scotch, hot caramel, fruit salad,
hot fudge, marshmallow, cherries, chocolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles,
assorted candies, assorted nuts, whipped cream.
I am not a “sundae” kind of person. Just give me the ice
cream and maybe a syrup. However, I
wanted to try the chocolate malted milk shake and an egg cream to bring me back
“yesteryear.” For those of you that have no idea what and egg cream is, let me
first say that there is no egg nor cream in it. This is an invention from prior
to WWII. You pour some Ubet syrup in a glass, top it with milk and then
dispense seltzer from the soda fountain, the same time stirring rapidly in order
to create the foam. Vito prepares his own syrups such as chocolate, vanilla and
coffee.
Back to the ice cream. Coffee ice cream with coffee syrup –
like eating an espresso! Pistachio with pistachios in it. Raspberry, one of my favorite flavors and I
could taste the raspberries in it. Mint
chip that brought me back to being a kid and that was my favorite flavor. Cherry vanilla certainly had real cherries
and another flavor high on my list. One thing I could detect is that the ice
cream is, in fact, made on the premises. I also tried some of their whipped
cream….OMG! I’m not a coffee drinker but
I wanted a cup of the syrup to go to make “coffee milk.”
It’s not surprising to see a group of children occupying all
of the tables as Angelina is in charge of taking care of these type of bookings. On this particular day Learning Tree Day Camp
had sent the joyous faces of the girls division, having brought the boys
division the day before and done at a time prior to the ice cream shop’s 1pm opening
time. There were certainly huge smiles
on the faces of the escorting supervisors, who got to hang out at the soda
fountain area.
Will you ever see Vito?….sure. Between preparations he is
also at the counter scooping and such.
Next time I go…and I will be back…I am going to ask for a cup of espresso
with coffee syrup and a dollop of whipped cream. I guess it’s like having an espresso with
sugar and cream….right?
Eddie’s Sweet Shop is located at 105-29 Metropolitan Avenue.
Hours are 1pm to 11:30 pm and closed on Mondays. Come on, Vito and the family
need one day for a break! Street parking, accessible but with a small
step.
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