Just off the Belle Avenue exit on Route 4 in New Jersey there is an ice cream parlor that has been around since 1934 named Bischoff’s Confectionery. They offer “an old-fashioned ice cream soda fountain experience complete with spinning stools at the counter, wait staff wearing paper hats and bow ties, and egg creams.” Bischoff’s makes my most favorite ice cream sundae in all the world using a flavor they call Cookie Crush, their version of the more commerical Cookies and Cream.
When I visit, I order two scoops of Cookie Crush with homemade hot fudge, homemade hot peanut butter sauce and a pile of fresh whipped cream. (My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it and it’s only 7am!) Their take-out portions are huge, (as you can see from their brownie sundae above) so I usually speed back to the City using a freezer bag to keep the cup cold and pop that guy right into the freezer the minute I get home. It’s at least two if not three portions of dessert and it’s impossible to get an ice cream doggy bag from the dining in experience since the entrée tends to melt, so take-out is the logical choice for me to maximize my Cookie Crush.
I’ve certainly had other crushes in my life. There was a little cafe in Toco Hills Shopping Plaza in Atlanta right near Emory called Gorin’s that made an Almond Chicken Melt that was absolutely to die for. They griddled their egg bread just so, and added crunchy slivered almonds to their perfectly tasty but not too chunky chicken salad and the melty Swiss cheese was just hot enough so that you didn’t burn the roof of your mouth when you took your anticipatory first bite. I know it’s been thirty (holy shit) years since I’ve indulged in that sammich, but Oh My Lord and Taylor, I’d love one right now. (This photo courtesy of The-Girl-Who-Ate-Everything.com– and great name, by the way!) I traveled to Atlanta on business years later and planned to visit, but I learned that they vacated the spot. Needless to say I was crushed!
Sometimes a serious crush never leaves you. On my teen tour across America, a fudge covered apple at Mt. Rushmore left a bigger impression on me than George Washington’s face ever could. I remember the pizza from Mountainside, an off campus log cabin restaurant near my beloved sleepaway, was the very best way to celebrate any sort of Supy victory. And there were a number of all chocolate ice cream sodas from Huff’s in Montvale, New Jersey that come to mind. (Sealtest ice cream shot courtesy of Pinterest.) A very memorable lunch was at the infamous Gas Station Restaurant (actual name still unknown) in Israel where our tour group had the most delicious hummus and pitas in the entire land of Milk and Honey. Amen to that meal!
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