THE SPOON CITY STORY
Growing up in St. Louis, MO, brothers David and Michael Goldberg frequently enjoyed their favorite treat – Frozen Custard (a gourmet type of ice cream) – served at Ted Drewes. After ball games, the prom, or just for dessert, they, like thousands of other St. Louisans would travel over ten miles, past dozens of other ice cream stores to get their Ted Drewes concretes.
Upon moving to New York over fifteen years ago, Mike was astonished to learn that Frozen Custard was not available in the City. His surprise was compounded when he learned that this favorite boyhood treat originated in Coney Island. This wonderful frozen dessert had disappeared from New York City.
Since then, others have attempted to serve frozen custard in New York, but it just wasn’t the same. Often they limited the menu to only vanilla, chocolate and a single “flavor of the day”. Since frozen custard has to be served within a couple of hours of being made, it is much easier to manage a daily inventory of only a limited number of flavors. So if you show up desiring a “Mint Oreo” on “Butter Pecan”-day, you’re out of luck.
But Dave and Mike knew better. They knew Ted Drewes served over a dozen flavors each and every day. And they were always available.
They decided there was still a place in the Big Apple for the frozen custard with which they were familiar, so they opened Spoon City across Fifth Avenue from the Empire State Building (at 33rd Street), to bring the frozen custard they know – every flavor, every day – to New York City. The store currently offers over 20 flavors, and 15 “spoon-in” (mix-ins). Every day.
How do they do it when most others do not? When making frozen custard with the “flavor of the day” method, the flavoring is added to liquid dairy mix before it is processed through the frozen custard machine. The result is a uniformly served hard serve (though softer than ordinary ice cream) that can be scooped straight onto a cone. When making custard the “Ted Drewes / Spoon City” way, the flavoring is carefully hand-blended into sweet cream (unflavored) frozen custard after it has been processed through the machine, making it possible to have an unlimited array of delicious flavor options available anytime.
But why doesn’t everyone do it this way? Because it is impossible to scoop blended frozen custard onto a cone. Yes, that’s right: no traditional ice cream cones at Spoon City. They can’t put it in a cone. They can only serve it in a cup – called a “Concrete”. But Spoon City stocks three varieties of cones, so they will serve an “upside-down cone” as a “Spoon-In”, placed neatly atop a concrete.
ABOUT FROZEN CUSTARD
What is Frozen Custard?
Frozen Custard is the ice cream enthusiast’s first choice in frozen desserts.
Frozen Custard differs from other frozen desserts due to several premium options. Most critical is the mix itself, but its physical properties and manufacturing process explain differences in taste, sensory experience, and mouth feel as compared to ordinary ice cream.
1. Frozen Custard has far less air whipped into it (overrun), making it denser and richer.
2. Frozen Custard is served at a “warmer” temperature, making it softer and smoother.
3. Frozen Custard is made every hour, making it fresher and more stable.
4. Frozen Custard is made in a continuous freezer, making it more consistent and smooth.
5. Frozen Custard mix is a premium mix, made with egg yolk, reduced lactose, and fresh cream, milk, sugar, and other natural ingredients, providing the best possible base for making the best possible frozen dessert.
What makes Spoon City’s frozen custard unique?
1. Variety, variety, variety. Spoon City has refined the flavoring process, blending over twenty flavors (and growing) and customizing the product to each customer’s order. In addition, Spoon City has over fifteen (and growing) “Spoon-Ins” – chips, sprinkles, fruit, nuts, candybars, etc. – that it blends in to enrich the final product.
2. Spoon City is also developing several Spoon Specials, several with New York themes including “The Big Apple”, “Lady Liberty” and “The Skyscraper”. Spoon Specials were developed with customized and extensively tested recipes.
3. Spoon City also serves several common ice cream-derived treats including shakes, concretes, and floats. Spoon City also sells an “upside down cone” placed atop a serving of frozen custard, allowing the customer to have a little cone in each bite.
4. Size. Spoon City’s “small” is a robust 8 oz, rivaling the “large” at many other frozen dessert stores. We want our customers to get their fill, so we make sure that size and affordability will not limit enjoyment.
When will you sell frozen Custard in grocery stores?
Bad news. Frozen Custard can really only be enjoyed when it is served fresh. The complex freezing process that makes Frozen Custard so delicious and smooth when served fresh (at 18 degrees), unfortunately, has a short shelf life concerning its smoothness and denseness characteristics. When placed in a standard freezer, with a temperature close to 0 degrees, the product crystallizes and becomes extremely hard and icy. While some people enjoy it this way nonetheless, Spoon City refuses to compromise on its quality and only offers frozen custard served fresh in its store.
Growing up in St. Louis, MO, brothers David and Michael Goldberg frequently enjoyed their favorite treat – Frozen Custard (a gourmet type of ice cream) – served at Ted Drewes. After ball games, the prom, or just for dessert, they, like thousands of other St. Louisans would travel over ten miles, past dozens of other ice cream stores to get their Ted Drewes concretes.
Upon moving to New York over fifteen years ago, Mike was astonished to learn that Frozen Custard was not available in the City. His surprise was compounded when he learned that this favorite boyhood treat originated in Coney Island. This wonderful frozen dessert had disappeared from New York City.
Since then, others have attempted to serve frozen custard in New York, but it just wasn’t the same. Often they limited the menu to only vanilla, chocolate and a single “flavor of the day”. Since frozen custard has to be served within a couple of hours of being made, it is much easier to manage a daily inventory of only a limited number of flavors. So if you show up desiring a “Mint Oreo” on “Butter Pecan”-day, you’re out of luck.
But Dave and Mike knew better. They knew Ted Drewes served over a dozen flavors each and every day. And they were always available.
They decided there was still a place in the Big Apple for the frozen custard with which they were familiar, so they opened Spoon City across Fifth Avenue from the Empire State Building (at 33rd Street), to bring the frozen custard they know – every flavor, every day – to New York City. The store currently offers over 20 flavors, and 15 “spoon-in” (mix-ins). Every day.
How do they do it when most others do not? When making frozen custard with the “flavor of the day” method, the flavoring is added to liquid dairy mix before it is processed through the frozen custard machine. The result is a uniformly served hard serve (though softer than ordinary ice cream) that can be scooped straight onto a cone. When making custard the “Ted Drewes / Spoon City” way, the flavoring is carefully hand-blended into sweet cream (unflavored) frozen custard after it has been processed through the machine, making it possible to have an unlimited array of delicious flavor options available anytime.
But why doesn’t everyone do it this way? Because it is impossible to scoop blended frozen custard onto a cone. Yes, that’s right: no traditional ice cream cones at Spoon City. They can’t put it in a cone. They can only serve it in a cup – called a “Concrete”. But Spoon City stocks three varieties of cones, so they will serve an “upside-down cone” as a “Spoon-In”, placed neatly atop a concrete.
ABOUT FROZEN CUSTARD
What is Frozen Custard?
Frozen Custard is the ice cream enthusiast’s first choice in frozen desserts.
Frozen Custard differs from other frozen desserts due to several premium options. Most critical is the mix itself, but its physical properties and manufacturing process explain differences in taste, sensory experience, and mouth feel as compared to ordinary ice cream.
1. Frozen Custard has far less air whipped into it (overrun), making it denser and richer.
2. Frozen Custard is served at a “warmer” temperature, making it softer and smoother.
3. Frozen Custard is made every hour, making it fresher and more stable.
4. Frozen Custard is made in a continuous freezer, making it more consistent and smooth.
5. Frozen Custard mix is a premium mix, made with egg yolk, reduced lactose, and fresh cream, milk, sugar, and other natural ingredients, providing the best possible base for making the best possible frozen dessert.
What makes Spoon City’s frozen custard unique?
1. Variety, variety, variety. Spoon City has refined the flavoring process, blending over twenty flavors (and growing) and customizing the product to each customer’s order. In addition, Spoon City has over fifteen (and growing) “Spoon-Ins” – chips, sprinkles, fruit, nuts, candybars, etc. – that it blends in to enrich the final product.
2. Spoon City is also developing several Spoon Specials, several with New York themes including “The Big Apple”, “Lady Liberty” and “The Skyscraper”. Spoon Specials were developed with customized and extensively tested recipes.
3. Spoon City also serves several common ice cream-derived treats including shakes, concretes, and floats. Spoon City also sells an “upside down cone” placed atop a serving of frozen custard, allowing the customer to have a little cone in each bite.
4. Size. Spoon City’s “small” is a robust 8 oz, rivaling the “large” at many other frozen dessert stores. We want our customers to get their fill, so we make sure that size and affordability will not limit enjoyment.
When will you sell frozen Custard in grocery stores?
Bad news. Frozen Custard can really only be enjoyed when it is served fresh. The complex freezing process that makes Frozen Custard so delicious and smooth when served fresh (at 18 degrees), unfortunately, has a short shelf life concerning its smoothness and denseness characteristics. When placed in a standard freezer, with a temperature close to 0 degrees, the product crystallizes and becomes extremely hard and icy. While some people enjoy it this way nonetheless, Spoon City refuses to compromise on its quality and only offers frozen custard served fresh in its store.