Chow Time: Sugar Bowl

For all of the eating that we did during our Arizona sojourn, few places provided as much satisfying satiation as Scottsdale's sticky-sweet Sugar Bowl (est. 1958).  Sticking out of Old Town's western facade like a sore, pink thumb, Sugar Bowl is the revisionist masterpiece of a late-Victorian/Edwardian ice cream parlor.

Look out Sugar Bowl, here comes Mr. Tiny!

Living in the very shadow of the Magic Kingdom (seriously, we can hear Disneyland's nightly firework spectacular), we smugly thought that we had the market cornered on 1950's-does-1900's Main Street charm.  In one fell, Pepto-Bismol-colored swoop, Sugar Bowl proved us decidedly wrong.  I try not to get too snobby about these things, but I have had more than my fill of 80's/90's does 50's diners.  In fact, if I never see one more sun faded, life-size cut out of James Dean or Marilyn Monroe, it would all be too soon.  Offering its own spin on sugar-coated history, Sugar Bowl's romantic landscape of neapolitan linoleum and tufted pink booths is like spending an afternoon inside a fluffy meringue....or Sugar Town.

"Sugar Town" - Nancy Sinatra

Change "town" to "bowl" and 

they've got a solid new theme song!

"Welcome to the Sugar Bowl!"
I don't think it's lazy poetry...find me another word that
 rhymes more perfectly with Sunday other than Sunday.
"Sundae" would just be too on the nose.

Interior stained-glass windows featuring the Sugar Bowl's sugar bowl logo

reminded me of equal parts Disneyland, the Candy Kitchen in The Music Man, 

and Pollyanna - a winning combination!!!

The heart-shaped porthole windows on the swinging, kitchen
 doors remind servers and staff to treat each patron with love.

The stunning wall mural...honestly we were stunned.
This little piece of artistry in acrylics is like a
Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grand Frappe.

The pink, black, and white linoleum floor
How many banana split splats has this thing seen?

The menu!!!
The menu is filled with delightful illustrations that speak to the frivolity of a novelty
 ice cream parlor in the sun-baked Arizona desert.   Speaking of illustrations, the
Sugar Bowl plays a supporting role in many of the famed Family Circus comic strips. 

"You'll love our luncheons."
 The tenderly-wrought window painting wasn't lying; offering more refreshment than just their perfect
 pairing of Turn-of-the-Century charm and icy-cold air conditioning, we had every reason to be hopeful
 about our forthcoming luncheon.  "Luncheon," the way I will henceforth refer to my noontime meal.

Decisions, decisions...

Homemade meatloaf sandwich with a healthy scoop of the house potato salad.
Old-timey!!!

A BLT with kettle chips and the obligatory pickle spear.

Even the printed napkins are amazing.
We managed to steal a few extras as thrift-conscious souvenirs.

These were our desserts - a fresh, sparkling limeade and the "Top Hat," a giant, ice 

cream-filled profiterole drenched in hot fudge.  Can you guess who ordered which dessert?

Surprise!!!

I kept asking Mary to pose with her gargantuan treat, but
she couldn't stop from attacking that thing like it was the
fudge-covered enemy! 

It's that kind of place...you can't help yourself but just dive right in!

If I lived in Scottsdale, I have the terrible feeling that I would spend an inordinate amount of time getting a sugar-high at the Sugar Bowl.  It is practically perfect in every way, at least in our wacky tacky eyes.  I've been accused of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, but at Sugar Bowl, it simply cannot be helped.  It's the pink of perfection!

"The Pink of Perfection" from Walt Disney's Summer Magic

Sugar Bowl

4005 N Scottsdale Rd

Scottsdale, AZ

(480)946-0051

www.sugarbowlscottsdale.com

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Kitsch-en Kounter: Neapolitan Treats

I love looking through old magazines.  I was fortunate enough to inherit some of my great-grandmother's collection of magazines including many McCall's and Collier's from the late forties and early fifties.  I treasure these veritable time capsules that still bear her name and address so much that they have gone with me wherever I have moved.  Endless inspiration is to be found by simply thumbing through the dog-eared pages and with every turn of the page I have taken mental notes on the fashion, the interiors and even the food!  Sometimes the recipes culled from the pages of these publications seem like a menu designed for prisoners of war, kidnappers, and especially-disruptive, early-morning landscapers.  I can see the artistry and the ingenuity behind the recipes.  I can see the endless possibilities for pimento olives.  I can see these recipes as part of the wacky tacky landscape and therefore I wanted to try my hand at making something that could be worthy of a home on the pages of these magazines.

Growing up, my dad's favorite ice cream flavor was neapolitan.  He always loved mixing flavors and the classic chocolate, vanilla, strawberry combination that neapolitan offered him was an ice cream dream come true.  When he would buy it for the family, however, the carton would invariably end up as a stripe of vanilla surrounded by two voids where the chocolate and strawberry once resided.  My brother still considers vanilla to be "plain."  Inspired by the recipes of vintage magazines and my dad's favorite flavor  story I decided to create neapolitan "marshmallow rice squares."  I would say Rice Krispie Treats, but in the interest of full disclosure, I not only used generic marshmallows, I used store-brand
"Crispie Rice Cereal" - both regular and cocoa-flavored.  I decided that the obvious finishing touch was a dunk in chocolate.

Clearly, I am no food stylist.  The way a food looks in my imagination doesn't always translate directly to the finished product.  Furthermore, the way that the photos look in my head versus the way the photos turn out is very telling about my photography skills as well.  Nevertheless, the finished product was tasty and left room for fine-tuning in the next batch.  Although I'm not sure that I would have pleased the editors of Collier's.

My next food challenge is to take a real recipe from a vintage magazine and see if my family will actually eat it!  Bon appetit!

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny