There is something beautiful about reading newspapers. These days the only places I seem to read newspapers (not on a screen) are when I am on a plane. There is something about that moment of being asked if one wants a newspaper that marks the inauguration of an international flight. I never seem to get asked if I want newspapers when I fly domestically, hence this association. This May, on my way to Bangalore, I was offered a newspaper by the grumpy Delta attendant. Stating my preference for the New York Times, I was given the last copy and instructed to share it with the lady behind me. I desperately needed the paper, the physical newspaper, to separate me from the passenger seated next to me who had begun to establish herself as an over-sharer even before we left CVG. But lost in the folds of the pages of the newspaper that took up every last inch of space in my cramped coach seat seemed like a good place to be while flying over the Atlantic.
I love newspapers for the same reason I love library stacks. And bookstores. I love the serendipitous encounters with knowledge to be exhilarating. I spend so much time seeking out particular knowledges that it is so nice to happen on stories as one does in a newspaper. I also have a peculiar habit of reading from back to front (it feels easier for a south paw like myself to do that) so I usually read the dining and style sections attentively and am skimming the "news" section. So this is how I found out about Sky Ice. I was reading backwards and drawn to the food section where my eyes (and perhaps anticipation of horrendous food aboard Delta) drew me to the customary description of cool treats that usually appear in magazines, newspapers, blogs etc in May. My eye was drawn to a short paragraph about a place in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood that served mixed vegetable ice cream:
"Along with black sesame-seaweed, Thai coffee, coconut and the ubiquitous caramel sea salt, at Sky Ice in Park Slope, Brooklyn, there is even a mixed vegetable flavor and sorbets that include mangosteen and durian. The Chujit family, from Chiang Mai, Thailand, makes the ice cream and shave ice in this shop and cafe, and whips up curries, salads, crepes and desserts."
Nothing much more to go on, just an unlikely pairing that was deemed delicious. Since I couldn't tear the page out of the paper ( I had to SHARE the paper), I forgot about Sky Ice somewhere during the 18 hours of my trip. The subsequent weeks didn't remind me of Sky Ice either, and it was only when planning a trip to Brooklyn, for a friend's wedding that I remembered mixed vegetable ice cream.
Fast forward a few weeks to early August, and M and I decided (or rather I decided and dragged M along) to Sky Ice. I had feared long lines and interminable waiting, but pleasantly surprised to be among the first to arrive when the restaurant opened for business. The menu has two sides--savory and sweet--and has minimal description. Telling indeed, is the fact that the website lists the SWEET side first. (See here if you don't believe me!) And here.
And obviously, all with good reason. The SWEET side is absolutely amazing. In advance of going I had studied the menu and decided I would only eat sweets. And while I am a fan of other foods masquerading as other foods--candy shaped like sushi for example--I was wholly unprepared for the awesome of the kinds of innovation at Sky Ice.
Among the things I ordered were the mixed vegetable ice cream and the sushi platter. The sushi platter, was one such Baudrillardian food--one thing simulating another--that masterfully reinvented sushi to be all carbs and all deliciousness.
Fruit was placed inside of fresh spring roll wrappers, sliced to resemble sushi, served on sushi plates alongside a green tea sauce to mimic wasabi and a chocolate sauce to take the place of soy sauce. And all this for only $6.50!
Some of the most lauded restaurants such as WD-50 which I would visit later that night, are known for their playfulness with food. One of the items on their tasting menu was "everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese"--the bagel was made of ice cream and tasted like a bagel. It was truly wondrous. But at $12.00 it pretty much had to be. Plus, the waitress at Sky Ice was super nice while WD-40's choice was wait-staff started the tasting menu with an amuse bouche of snooty sarcasm. Still the food was so delicious, I forgive the idiot waiter for explaining to me what shiso was and defining a pilsner for M. But back to Sky Ice. This is a place that got only a paragraph in the New York Times within a larger article about ice cream in the city. WD-50 will get so much more press, and deservedly so, but it is a pity that one associates culinary innovation with celebrity in most cases. Apart from the beautiful presentation, the home made ice cream was delicious and original.
The reason I went to Sky Ice--mixed vegetable ice cream--was super yummy and worth every bit of the $3.00 I paid for one scoop. That day was a culinary life list kind of day. I had wanted to try WD-50 for ages and can cross that off my imaginary list of things to do, but inadvertently, my list stayed as long that day. Because I had to add a new item to that list. Eating ice cream at Sky Ice.
And to think that I would never have found out about this culinary wondrousness had it not been for taking refuge in a newspaper. Somewhere between Cincinnati and Paris, I tried to lose myself in prose. On the corner of Fifth Ave and a street name I don't remember in Brooklyn, I found poetry on a plate.


















