Happy Birthday, Ice Cream Sundae!

Once upon a time, your humble scribe was an Ice Cream Guy.

In the village of Arroyo Grande, CA, there once was a place called Burnardoz, which was located no the west side of town. In years gone by, Burnardoz was the creme de la creme of the Ice Cream world.....but by the time I arrived on the scene, the place had been sold a couple of times, the quality was suffering, and eventually it went away.

The legend, however, remained.

In the year of '03, a fellow named Greg came onto the scene, eager to begin work on re-establishing the old parlour and the quality of Ice Cream that people remembered. He teamed with one of the original owners of Burnardoz, who gave him all the secret recipes, and he gutted the old establishment, and put in bright colors, large windows, he completely re-did the century-old floors, and ran a toy train around the entire perimeter.

Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab was born.*

Soon, the place was filled with happy people, the sound of a train whistle, and the lovely fragrance of fresh waffle cones.

I joined up in June of '04; I had met Greg when he came into another place I was working at the time, and we hit it off. I saw the sign in the window, re-introduced myself, and began the career in serving and making Ice Cream.

I tell you this because today is the 119th birthday of the Sundae.

The Sundae was created, so the Legend goes, because of the Blue Laws in Illinois at the end of the 19th century. No soda water was allowed to be sold on the Sabbath, so Ice Cream sodas were illegal. So, the proprietor of the local fountain simply put the ice cream in a glass, added the syrup, put on the whipped cream, left out the soda water, and voila! Ice Cream Sundae.

Fifteen years later, in Ohio, another intrepid Ice Cream Explorer invented the Banana Split, to bring in the college students during the winter months that are traditionally difficult for the Ice Cream Industry.

One of my favorite things to do at Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab was to brainstorm flavor ideas, and create a Specialty Sundae for every month.

Best Ice Cream flavor idea: S'More's Ice Cream. Marshmallow flavored ice cream with a fudge swirl AND a graham cracker swirl.

Worst Ice Cream flavor idea: Carob and Honey. But people would still buy it. We also tried a garlic Ice Cream for a festival. "Ick" doesn't really cover the revulsion.

There was really something special about creating a Sundae for folks; using that fluted glassware, adding just a touch of topping to the bottom of the glass; adding the ice cream; topping the ice cream just enough to cover, but not enough to drip off the sides; enough whipped cream to top, but NOT cover the Ice Cream (NEVER cover the Ice Cream!) and a nice even sprinkle of nuts and cherry right on top.....with just a little drizzle of topping over the top. There was a special thrill that came with getting that reaction from a patron.....that sense of awe.

And the tips were usually huge.

A large part of the Ice Cream Experience is the look of the product, after all.

Those were good times.

*if you go to the website, and navigate to the Lab Show, you'll see one of the few surviving photos of Greg and myself. I think there's also a snippet of a video there someplace, as well.