Wednesday, October 14th - Let us Celebrate Our Departure from Stinktown with the addition of Hot Fudge and Peanut Butter to Ice Cream.
As the summer days dragged by we spoke of it in reverent tones; we thumbed through two-year-old pictures of it in all its gooey glory; in the gloomy pre-dawn hour before the alarm woke us for work we even dreamed of it. Not a week went by that one of us didn't say to the other, "I wish we were eating it right now."
That's right my friends - I speak of the No Way Jose: the dessert so good it should have its own theme music.
Imagine our horror when they tried to serve it to us in a soup bowl.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to the beginning, when we approached the hostess about being seated at 2:30 in the afternoon only to be told there was a 30-minute wait for a table, or ... immediate seating at the counter. We were famished, precious, due to our long travel day and lack of real vittles and didn't feel like waiting any longer than we had to, so we gladly made our way to seats at the counter. Jay and I actually enjoy sitting at the counter - for some reason the cast members seem friendlier and there is the added bonus of watching the staff prepare all those yummy desserts.
Many of you no doubt have seen the inside of Beaches and Cream, but I wanted to post one picture because I think their decor is just too cute for words. I especially like the ice cream cone light fixtures.
That middle scoop looks pooped!
There was no need for discussion - Jay and I both ordered a single cheeseburger with fries and a long, tall, cold glass of clear Florida swampwater. Having read some discussion here on the the DIS prior to our departure I was on the lookout for new hamburger patties, and I do believe these were different from what we've had in the past. They weren't bad, especially considering where we were dining; however, I will say that later in the week we had a late night snack at another establishment and they served me the same pre-formed meat patty as Beaches and Cream and I found it totally unacceptable. You can read all about that another time - most likely months from now when we will have all forgotten about it.
We call this lunch with a cheese bubo (look it up - you will be disgusted).
Our burgers really hit the spot. They were hot and cheesy and just greasy enough to get the arteries lubed up for 10 days of shameless gluttony. And the fries were just the way I like 'em - lightly crisped on the outside and full of steaming pulpy potato goodness on the inside.
We had a very friendly server who really became chatty once he noticed our fabulous Homer buttons and learned of our passion for Epcot's Food & Wine Festival. Perhaps it was this sudden camaraderie born of food love that led him to believe we were amenable to alternate and wacky dessert presentations. Shortly after placing an order for the No Way Jose, the CM approached us with an empty green soup bowl and said, "Do you mind if I serve you your No Way Jose in this bowl? We're out of goblets right now."
Jay looked at me.
I looked at Jay.
We both looked at the CM.
My mouth opened and I heard myself ask, "Is this a joke?"
Judging by the look on his face apparently not - from what we could gather the goblets were out of service because it was their bath time. Oh, woe to you mid-afternoon eater of sundaes; next time take Mr. Burns' advice and order a lime rickey!!
I was all for canceling the order because Jose is way to big to be properly served in a shallow soup bowl, but before I could crush Jason's dessert dreams our CM suggested that he could make two miniature versions of the dessert and that way we'd get an extra scoop of ice creamy goodness.
"OK," we said. "Let's do it!"
So let it be spoken; so let it be done.
The final result wasn't bad, but it just wasn't the same as sharing a monster sundae with my lovey. There were no dueling spoons or licking of fingers coated in fudgy peanut butter or ... well, I'd better stop here or this food porn will be on the receiving end of an XXX rating.
When life hands you a soup bowl, ask for a sundae glass instead.
It just doesn't have the same impact.
Overall Beaches and Cream was a decent start to the trip. Maybe we were bound to be a little disappointed because we'd been building that No Way Jose up in our minds for the last two years, but the presentation just wasn't the same. I'm still puzzling over how an ice cream shop can run out of serving goblets at 3PM in the afternoon. It kind of makes me wonder what the response would have been if we'd ordered the kitchen sink ...
"Oh, sorry; we're using those as real sinks right now. How do you feel about me blending it all together and making you a really chunky shake instead?"
The final verdict: Beaches and Cream gets a Worker and Parasite. East Germany's cat and mouse team were served better desserts while being interrogated by the Stasi.
go figure... Can't wait to read about your adventures! It was great to talk with you, sorry we couldn't meet up. Hope the flight home was uneventful. Keep an eye on the illness... hope you feel better!
the Goat Cheese Truffles:
