Old School

11-14-2016
“Old School”
Old School, noun, used, usually approvingly, to refer to someone or something that is old-fashioned or traditional.
There are some things in life that are better homemade. Ice cream is one of them. We live in a mass produced society. Everything we do, eat, buy seems mass produced. Soon, even a Tesla will be mass produced as they will be the norm. Getting costs down is a goal of most companies that produce some sort of product. If you watch Shark Tank, they go off when an entrepreneur’s margins are off. They usually tell them that they have to get their costs down. This forces them to move towards a big manufacture or outsource to CHINA.
Ice cream is no exception. Look in the frozen food isle as proof. There are sooooo many different brands out there. There are a few that are locally produced, but in general, most of them are mass produced so they can get them to everyone, everywhere, around the globe. That said, when you stumble on something that is homemade you get really excited.
Having things that are homemade has its ups and downs. The homemade chicken soup when you are sick – FUCKING AWESOME. The homemade sweater from Aunt Connie for XMAS – FUCKING HORRIBLE. The homemade filet mignon, while it can be hit or miss in some homes, my kids prefer mine over going to Barclay Prime, so – FUCKING AWESOME. The homemade card from your kids for your birthday – WAY FUCKING AWESOME. Ice Cream though, really is something special if it is homemade.
I remember visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Durham, North Carolina when I was young. I remember making Ice Cream in their hand crank ice cream maker. Couldn’t tell if you if it was good or not, but I do remember making it. I also remember registering for an Ice Cream Maker when my wife and I were getting married. “You’ll never use it!” “You’re an idiot for registering for that!” were the quotes I heard. It never left the box. When we bought our house, our realtor bought us one; it too is still in the box, or maybe we donated it, I don’t fucking remember.
Since homemade ice cream was something I was jonesing for, I decided to search the Philly area looking for shops that did it their way! We decided to give The Franklin Fountain a try. http://www.franklinfountain.com/franklin-ice-cream/
The Franklin Fountain (founded by the Berley Brothers) is a throwback to the old Soda Fountain shops you’ve seen in movies like “The Natural” and “The Untouchables.” It is totally OLD SCHOOL, located in Old City Philadelphia! The waiters and waitresses are dressed up in late 19th early 20th century clothes. It is a cash only business. Everything looks antique. Heck even the register is antique. One of the best parts of the shop is the phone. It is an old timey phone. It is pretty cool. In fact, when people call, they can’t be transferred or put on hold. All the flavors and options are plastered on the wall. The shop is narrow, has limited seating and YES, this place is popular.
I arrived with my family around 8:45pm and the line was out the door. It wasn’t too terribly long, but heck if it is out the door then it is out the door. It was also pretty damn cold too. I am not a temperature snob. I will eat ice cream in any weather, yet, I forgot to wear a heavier coat, and so I was a bit miserable waiting in line. It took about 10 minutes to get in the door and then another 10 to order/get served. I was so happy being there. It was a lot of fun just watching the people fulfill orders, viewing the containers that the various flavors were in, watching how big each scoop was, etc.
My kids and I decided not to get our ice cream on a cone for one simple reason; we wanted to really enjoy the ice cream vs. worrying about it getting everywhere. Plus it was cold outside, so we were going to probably eat it in the warm car. I ordered a scoop of pistachio and a scoop of strawberry. Oh man were they fucking amazing. You could really tell the difference between homemade and mass produced. The ice cream was thick, it was creamy, and there were no artificial colors. The Pistachios in the ice cream were not bits; they were whole pieces and the ice cream had a hint of green only because of the pistachio stalk. The strawberry ice cream was a pale pink. The strawberries were big and you could really tell they were fresh vs. frozen ice strawberries as they didn’t crunch or taste icy. Neither flavor tasted particularly sugary, but both were perfectly sweetened.
My son got a scoop of Chocolate and a scoop of Rocky Road. He would not let me try them, but told me they were the best two scoops he had ever tasted in his life. Trust me, this kid has had plenty of ice cream. My daughter had a scoop of Chocolate Chip and a scoop of Peanut Butter. To tell you how thick the ice cream was, we got in the car, I finished mine, my son finished his, my daughter was passed out in the back seat with the bowl still between her legs. When we got home (20 min drive), the ice cream had barely melted. She got mad at me for trying it, and while I won’t review it, those two flavors were fucking amazing.
Sometimes you just gotta go old school and we were really happy we did. There is nothing like rich, creamy, flavorful, homemade ice cream. In a week where the U.S. was looking for a lot of answers, I decided to sweeten our night and forget about the week albeit for just a small moment in time. I took my family to see something old school, taste something old school and visit an old school part of town. We had a great night.
Thank you to The Franklin Fountain, you are a gem in the City of Brotherly Love. Your ice cream is amazing. Keep on being Old School.
Peace, Love and Hot Fudge,

Scott