July in Manhattan has been hot. Ninety-five degrees with skyscrapers blocking the breeze hot. If you’ve ever been to New York, you know that unless you’re taking cabs, you do a lot of walking and riding the subway. All that strutting (or dragging yourself) up and down avenues and standing in crowded stations warrants a cool treat.
As an amateur foodie and social media nerd, most of my favorite summer treats can be found on food trucks. Food trucks, or vendors that park on the street and serve various types of food, can be located each day using Twitter. If you’re planning a trip to the city sometime soon, track down my favorites.
– Kelvin is an all-natural slush truck usually parked near Union Square. The best part is that these frozen treats are customizable—choose a base and a mix-in to make it your own. Bases include ginger, citrus, or tea. Mix-ins are usually a selection of fruit and herbs. My favorite is a tea base with fresh mint, but I’ve heard the Arnold Palmer is pretty great (½ tea + ½ citrus + peach).
– Yes, you read the name correctly. Big Gay Ice Cream has a physical location at 125 East 7th Street with a hilarious weekend “bouncer” and cones with names like American Globs, Bea Arthur, and Salty Pimp. The Salty Pimp is a must-try. It’s a vanilla soft serve cone filled with dulce de leche sauce, sprinkled with sea salt, and dipped in chocolate. Fortunately, it’s delicious enough that you’ll be able to finish the cone before it melts down your arm.
– Confession: I don’t like coffee. I’ll drink “coffee drinks” (i.e. lattes and macchiatos), but I don’t like actual coffee. Still, I’m obsessed with Mud’s iced coffee, which means it must be good. I usually drink it over brunch at their 307 East 9th Street location but have searched for Mud’s bright orange truck, often near Astor Place, for a cup of joe. Skim and sugar, please. The iced tea brewed with mint is also good. Can you tell that I love mint?
– Coolhaus, a customizable ice cream sandwich truck, can actually be found in cities other than New York (Austin, Dallas, LA, and Miami). To customize a Coolhaus sandwich, choose cookies and an ice cream flavor to smash between them. Cookie flavors range from Double Chocolate with Sea Salt to Red Velvet. Ice cream flavors are just as unique—Nutella Almond, Pumpkin Pie, White Russian. Last week, I ordered Maker’s Mark ice cream between Snickerdoodle cookies. Oh, and the sandwiches are served in edible wrappers.
Are there food trucks in your town? What are your favorites?
By
Joel Moore
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The trucks mentioned above are here: http://itruckny.com/kelvin-slush http://itruckny.com/big-gay-ice-cream http://itruckny.com/mud-truck http://itruckny.com/coolhaus-ny