Carvel is a
New York metro area institution. Founded by
Tom Carvel,
a few
drive-in ice cream stands have
morphed into the full-serve "ice cream
bakery", featuring
cakes,
pies, and a miraculous substance called
Thinny Thin made of
NutraSweet and who knows what. Carvel also does
brisk trade in
Flying Saucers, ice cream
sandwiches that have a distinctive
round frilled shape embossed with a 50's futuristic
logo.
Many of the drive-in Carvels still exist, like one no more than three
miles
from my house. Decorated in a very mid
20th century motif of
stainless steel
and whimsical towers topped with cones, Carvel stands have frequently become
town
landmarks. Frequently the lot of the
gothic and otherwise
nonconformist,
Carvellians dispense
creamy sustinence with nary a smile and even less
caution with a yummy
soft serve cone.
Most people who go to Carvel get the soft serve, their trademark dish. Frequently
one can see families huddled outside of Carvels, ice cream
smeared
children running
in and out of the
minivan, while impatient and single
adults battle their way
to the
order window. For this reason I try to approach Carvel on
foot, since
cars are easily mutilated by a wayward
dog or eight year old with a penchant for
opening car doors too quickly.
But once inside, I get my hit of sweet, grainy, semi-dairy bliss. A
creamy,
swirly
cloud of something not yet real cream, yet
pasty; white, but almost
elastic.
I'd advise anyone interested not to go on a
saturday night. The
soccer moms
will attack with their
Windstars, since
Bobby and
Jill have just won their
pee-wee sports
games.