New York Street Food

Some people think the end game for a food truck is to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant or store and put the ol’ truck up on cinder blocks, metaphorically speaking.  While some food trucks, such as the Dessert Truck, did this, it’s becoming much more common for a food truck vendor to open a physical location and keep the wheels on the truck turning.  The list keeps getting longer every day.

Calexico Carne Asada cart

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All this snow is making me think of ice cream.  Good thing Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream is opening a storefront in Greenpoint tomorrow (Sat Feb 27th).  The menu is the same as in the trucks, which means if you’re not in the mood for Earl Grey ice cream in February, you can get pastries such as Sicilian fig cookies, cheddar-dill scones and a number of different coffee and espresso drinks.

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, 632 Manhattan Avenue (Bedford Avenue), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 701-1630. Ice cream, $3.95, $5.75 and $7 for cups and cones; toppings $1 to $1.25; sundaes $7.25 and $8; hand-packed pints $8. [NY Times]

More reports of Mister Softee’s violent threats against rival ice cream trucks have surfaced. And this time the target is the infinitely superior ice cream purveyor Van Leeuwen, whose Twitter feed announces, “Truck had to leave midtown . There were 3 Mr. Softie Trucks threatening our drivers life. Scary stuff! Sorry guys, maybe another time.” Or maybe you just stay off Softee’s turf and your fancy trucks don’t accidentally burst into flames, capisce?

Reached for comment, Benjamin Van Leeuwen tells us that his driver, Travis, was being followed by three Mister Softee trucks as he tried to find a place to park near Lexington and 55th Street. When he pulled over, they surrounded him and “threatened to kill him” if he didn’t leave midtown. Van Leeuwen tells us, “They do that all the time,” but so far this is his company’s first brush with the Mister Softee mafia in midtown. He tells us that Travis considered calling police, but in the past they’ve been “really unhelpful” and reluctant to file a police report, and Travis wanted to get back to work.

Van Leeuwen adds, “It’s too bad that in this densely populated part of Manhattan, where so many people are stuck in boring jobs, they can’t get good ice cream and have to eat that stuff.” “Stuff” is certainly a polite way to describe Mister Softee’s frozen dessert product line. [Via Grub Street]