Are You There God?
It's Me, Christl (For Now)
1-900-ICE-CREAM is in the most idyllic location. City planners near and far need to take notice. Every ice cream shop should be within walking distance to a park, in this case Rittenhouse Square, with plenty of benches, adequate saxophonists, and decently-behaved dogs.
With a bathroom tucked away in the corner and barely any seating, the layout asks you to consider, “Maybe ice cream isn’t meant to be consumed sitting down?”
*What little seating they do have is usually monopolized by an upper middle class white couple with two toddlers (or just one toddler but clearly they want another).*
Ice cream should be eaten on your feet. While wistfully strolling and lost in thought.
Do you know where else you’re supposed to be on your feet?
Church. During praise and worship.
1-900-ICE-CREAM’s Pumpkin Pie Custard and Cheesecake Soft Serve Twist is as transcendent as a woman with nowhere to be belting her heart out (in key). Behind her is a chorus perfectly layering their vocals and they make me believe that I should Believe.
Let’s go verse by verse into the layers of the flavors that surely would have been written about in the Old Testament.
In the Pumpkin Pie Custard part of the twist, you can taste each part of the pumpkin pie. The crust, the filling, and a topping? A dash of whipped cream?
However the most important part of the flavor is the crust. It wasn’t Sara Lee, it wasn’t store bought. It was–
Have you ever made a pie from scratch? As a dish designed to keep women in the kitchen, it’s time consuming in a medieval way that would concern me. Until I remember that people needed stuff to do before the invention of the internet.
The soulful, buttery graham cracker crumbs melt into my consciousness and I almost get hit by a toddler on a scooter…
The delicateness of the crust cannot be overly praised because both the pumpkin pie AND cheesecake part of the flavor depend on it. It is the foundation of the balance and it delivers.
1-900-ICE-CREAM has two locations in Philadelphia with flavors rotating every week.
Ranking:
1-900-ICE-CREAM
Wawa
I took the photo off of 1-900-ICE-CREAM’s Instagram. I ate mine too quickly and forgot to take a photo.