ice cream/frozen yogurt restaurants Archives

Saturday in the Park: Muenster Truck, Chattanooga Brewing Company, and Ice Cream Show

July 21, 2013

How many of you are singing the Chicago song with me now? If you don’t know that song, you are obviously younger than me and let’s never speak of that again. Anyway, it was the twentieth of July, not the Fourth, but close enough.

You may have guessed based on the establishments about which I am writing that the park to which I am referring is Coolidge Park. I had an appointment scheduled yesterday afternoon to do a photo shoot, so when Philip saw on Facebook that the Muenster Truck was going to be at Chattanooga Brewing Company, it seemed logical to both of us to head down for some grilled cheese action.

You may have walked past Chattanooga Brewing Company many times without really even realizing that it was there. Located next door to N2 Shoes, Chattanooga Brewing Co. is only open to the public on Fridays from 5-9 p.m. and typically on Saturdays from 1-9 p.m.(well, these are the stated hours on the front page of their website, though I did notice that their event calendar on the website mentions growler hours starting on Sundays at 3 p.m.), though they opened early yesterday to accommodate grilled cheese eaters. The company originally opened in 1890 (later closing in 1915) and was reopened in 2010, microbrewing a variety of brews right their in their tiny space. Their Imperial Pilsner and Hill City IPA are available year-round and other brews rotate. During their “growler hours” (listed above) you can purchase their fantastic small-batch beers by the glass (or smaller samplers of the whole variety) or in growlers (64 oz.). Chattanooga Brewing Company beers are served in many local establishments-check out the list hanging in their window to find out which ones (I wish I’d taken a photo of it)! Pictured below is their Hill City IPA.

When I first heard of the food truck trend, one of the trucks that really piqued my interest was a Los Angeles truck known simply as The Grilled Cheese Truck, serving plain old grilled cheese sandwiches as well as more unusual offerings like a macaroni & cheese and short rib sandwich. Truth be told (and I may have mentioned this here) I once wanted to open a grilled cheese truck in Chattanooga, but I’m definitely not cut out to be a food truck owner so I’m glad someone else undertook the task.

I was super-excited when I heard a few months ago that Chattanooga was soon to get a grilled cheese truck….and apparently so were a ton of other people because when I went to the Chattanooga Market the Sunday before Independence Day the Muenster Truck was by far the most crowded. The line was a mile long and I was hot and hungry so even though I really wanted a grilled cheese, I was not going to stand in that line (regular readers know that I’d rather gouge my eyes than wait in a superlong line or wait for an hour and a half to be seated in a restaurant). Guru, the Muenster Truck owner, emailed me recently and told me that Center Park tends to be a little less crowded than the market, so my plan was to head down there in the next week or two, but this was the perfect opportunity.

I came extremely close to ordering the Angry Bacons sandwich, which contains two of my favorite things: bacon and avocado (in the form of guacamole) but in the end the smoked gouda of the Dragon Ball Cheese won out. Besides, you can’t go wrong with caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms. Philip decided on the Rocket Italian, with provolone, a spring mix, Italian vinaigrette, and tomatoes. Honestly….any of these sounded delicious, because who doesn’t love a grilled cheese (and coincidentally, I’m going to be sharing some grilled cheese recipes with you guys fairly soon)? When Raj, whom I gathered is the manager of the truck, handed us our sandwiches, the first thing that struck me was the smell. It smelled like a grilled cheese. That may sound strange to some of you, but you dyed-in-the-wool grilled cheese lovers (like myself) will know what I’m talking about. Some food purveyors try to be fancy or modern or “healthy” with their grilled cheese/paninis, brushing or spraying them with olive oil instead of cooking them in butter. This was a true butter-grilled sandwich. Heaven help me.

Raj promised that these sandwiches would fill us up, and let me tell you….he wasn’t lying. The sandwiches were very large and assembled on sturdy but not dense white bread. For you health nuts out there, get over it. As much as I’d love to love a grilled cheese on whole wheat-and do make them myself sometimes-I cannot deny that a proper grilled cheese must be made on white bread…it just turns up the comfort food level a couple of notches. There was a good ratio of cheese to toppings, which can be difficult to achieve. The mushrooms and onions on my sandwich were sautéed very well-to the point that they still had some texture but didn’t give that off-putting crunch of pseudo-caramelized onions that haven’t really been caramelized at all. I was only able to eat about 3/4 of my sandwich.

Like my sandwich, Philip’s had a nice ratio of toppings-including tomato, radicchio, and some more delicate greens-to cheese. This is a great sandwich for someone who likes a little crunch on their grilled cheese, but honestly, my favorite feature of the sandwich was the Italian vinaigrette. I have never thought of putting a vinaigrette on a grilled cheese, but I think it provided a perfect balance between the vegetables and the cheese. Delicious.

At $17 (including 2 bags of Miss Vickie’s chips and 2 bottled waters, of course this is a little more expensive than making a grilled cheese at home, but how many of you have all of the aforementioned ingredients to add to your grilled cheese? You should definitely support the Muenster Truck. To find out their hours and locations, you can check out their website: http://themuenstertruckchattanooga.com/www, like them on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter.

After our lunch (which we ate on a barrel inside Chattanooga Brewing Company) we still had a quite a bit of time to kill before my photo appointment. This provided the perfect opportunity to get a little leisurely exercise by walking across the bridge. We circled Bluff View Art District and then ended up back at the bridge with time to kill, so Philip suggested a stop-in at The Ice Cream Show.

The concept at The Ice Cream Show is seemingly simple-you choose your based (soft serve chocolate or vanilla ice cream or yogurt) and your container (waffle cone or cup) then add mix-ins to your liking (they have a sign with suggestions, which I photographed, but my photo was way blurry. Unfortunately (if you’re indecisive like me anyway), the list of mix-ins was pretty long and it took me a minute…but then I saw green mint and all was right with the world. The cashier suggested one of their combinations-green mint, dark chocolate, and Oreos. It sounded pretty good to me, except the Oreos were unnecessary. Green mint & dark chocolate in vanilla ice cream. Yes. Pretty tasty, though I could only eat about half of it (that was a pretty large container of ice cream!). The green mint chips and dark chocolate chips lent the perfect amount of flavor to the vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm. Philip decided on a chocolate malt, which is pretty much his standard ice cream shop order unless he’s just in the mood for a waffle cone. The malt had a good texture, unlike the malts served at some shops that are not well-mixed and have chunks of malt powder throughout, but the malt flavor was not as strong as he would have liked (note-if you like a strong, bitter malt flavor….ask for extra malt!). Still a pretty decent malt, though-definitely better than many he has had.

Normally $13.75 might seem a little steep to me for ice cream, but when you’re sweating bullets in ninety-degree heat on a July day, it seems perfectly reasonable. The Ice Cream Show is definitely conveniently located at the south end of Walnut Street Bridge and I have no doubt that they do a ton of business in the warm weather months. It’s not Nana’s (because in my opinion no one will ever top Nana’s), but it’ll do. The staff was friendly and the service was quick, and they have a good selection and a nice atmosphere for patrons to cool down from the summer heat.

The Ice Cream Show is located at 129 Walnut Street, Chattanooga, TN 37403. They are open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. You can call them at 423-702-5173 or check out their website: http://www.theicecreamshow.com/TICS/Welcome.html or follow them on Twitter.

Milk and Honey

April 28, 2013

Milk and Honey is a popular spot on Chattanooga’s North Shore serving breakfast, lunch, gelato, sorbet, housemade paletas (popsicles), & a variety of drinks.

Drawing on their backgrounds in the restaurant business, Mike and Taylor Monen started Taco Mamacita (read my reviews here and here) in 2008 and haven’t looked back. It seems that they have built a restaurant empire in Chattanooga, adding Urban Stack Burger Lounge in 2010 (read my review here), Community Pie early this year (read my review here), and Milk & Honey just last month (they also have Taco Mamacita locations in Nashville and Sullivan’s Island, SC). Milk and Honey is the answer to the lack of desserts at the Monen’s restaurants. According to Lauren Evans, Operating Partner, Taylor (who masterminded all the recipes at Milk and Honey) had always dreamed of opening a sweets shop and the need to add desserts to their menus provided the perfect opportunity to start a shop that would operate as its own entity but also provide desserts for their other restaurants: paletas (fresh fruit popsicles) for Taco Mamacita, gelato as the base for Urban Stack’s milkshakes, and gelato for Community Pie.

When I arrived at Milk and Honey at 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon to chat with Lauren, the space was teeming with afterschoolers seeking a treat….I saw a lot of popsicles and cookies (thumbprints and cereal bar cookies) being consumed. The line was out the door but was quickly moved along by cute and friendly girls wearing shirts that said “Let’s Spoon” on the back. The black and white color scheme of the shop permeates every facet, down to the straws (pictured below).

There are a few booths inside the shop plus stools at the counter, but I have a feeling the real draw for diners here is the open seating area by the entrance. A long counter runs along the front wall with seating on either side, so you can sit outside or inside and enjoy the weather on a nice day. A sandwich board proclaims not only the gelato and sorbet flavors for the day but also the “nooner” and other lunch items. The nooner is the lunch special, which is served from 11 a.m. until it runs out and changes weekly. When I visited, the nooner was a NY-style corned beef Reuben.

A chalkboard style menu showcases all of the amazing and unique creations, from coffee drinks, tea, and homemade ginger ale to housemade gelato (which is Italian ice cream, made with milk and denser than American-style ice cream) and sorbet (in rotating flavors that are never the same as what are being offered at Community Pie), the colorful paletas (also in rotating flavors), and breakfast served daily from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. (and sometimes later) Monday-Friday and until 3 p.m. as Saturday and Sunday brunch (they even provide carhop service!). The muffin of the day, the Milk & Honey birthday cake, cookies, granola, handmade caramels, and caramel popcorn in beautiful displays round out the countertop accoutrements. Milk & Honey obtains as many ingredients as possible from local sources like Pure Sodaworks, Benton’s, and Sequatchie Cove, which you know is a Chattavore plus!

I spent a few minutes talking to Lauren about the shop. The opening of the shop has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm from the community. I asked Lauren if there was a time that they weren’t crowded, and she said that indeed, 4-8 p.m. on weeknights provides some relief from the crowds (I imagine that once school is out that window will shrink a little bit). The weekends, however, are busy from 9 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. (and they close at 10!). It has been a bit of a learning experience for these restaurant business veterans, who are used to the traditional busy times (lunch and dinner times). Because people tend to gravitate toward Milk & Honey for dessert, the shop gets busy at later times than a traditional restaurant would.

When I asked Lauren what her favorite items on the menu are, she told me that her favorite drink is the horchata latte: a double-shot of espresso with horchata (a sweetened rice milk flavored with cinnamon). Her favorite dessert item is the stracciatella gelato, which is made with the signature milk & honey flavored gelato layered with housemade magic shell that eventually gets crunched up to make a unique chocolate chip gelato. Her favorite breakfast item? The mega biscuit, which features red pepper spread, eggs, sausage, white cheddar, onion, shallots, and spinach. Her favorite lunch item is the turkey & brie pita with raspberry preserves. The biggest sellers overall have been the gelatos and the coffee drinks.

While I was intrigued by Lauren’s favorite horchata latte and have heard that the coconut milk latte is to die for, the lavender & honey latte grabbed my attention, since I am obsessed with all things lavender flavored (as evidenced here, here, and here). For $4.53 I got a small latte ($3.75) and a thumbprint cookie ($0.40). While the coffee tasted great, I was a little sad that I didn’t really taste the lavender, which is infused into the honey….however, I have been inspired to try to make a super-lavender flavored coffee creamer (with half and half, of course) at home (maybe I’ll share that with you all later!) and next time I’m definitely trying the coconut latte. Or the horchata latte. We shall see. The cookie was delicious, with a crumby (not soft) texture and a lovely almond flavor. My friend who met me after I talked with Lauren decided on the burnt sugar gelato and a thumbprint cookie. I didn’t taste her gelato but she said that it was indeed pretty tasty. I can’t wait to return to try breakfast…and lunch…and every flavor of gelato, sorbet, and paleta under the sun (except maybe the ones that have habanero in them…)!

Even if you don’t have the chance to make it by Milk and Honey for a while, you can find them all over the community. As I said before, you can find their wares at Taco Mamacita, Urban Stack, and Community Pie….but you can also find the “Ollie Pop” at Elemental, a new restaurant located by Whole Foods Market. The Ollie Pop is a brown-cow style popsicle featuring vanilla gelato (though they have used other flavors, like banana) dipped in chocolate. You will also be able to find their products in a case at Enzo’s Market on Main Street, which will be opening on May 10. They’ll be selling paletas, gelato, and coffee at the Chattanooga Market on Sundays.

Milk and Honey is located at 135 North Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402 (next to Taco Mamacita). You can call them at 423-521-3123. You can also check out their website, http://milkandhoneychattanooga.com, or you can find them on Facebook.

Nana’s Frozen Custard-September 23, 2011

October 18, 2011

April 2014: After they winter “break” and opening for one Saturday afternoon/evening, Nana’s sadly announced that they would not reopen the store again due to rising costs and a decrease in sales. I. Am. Devastated. However, the Nana’s truck will still be serving delicious frozen custard around town. Follow them on Facebook to find out where they’ll be.

Nana’s Frozen Custard, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. (1) Cold; (2) Creamy; (3) Thick; (4) Amazing flavors; (5) Interesting menu; (6) Close to home. As my friend Chastity says, Nana’s pretty much ruins every other ice cream place. It’s just the best! In case you were wondering, yes, there is a difference between ice cream and frozen custard. Ice cream is made from a base of milk and/or cream, and frozen custard includes eggs to increase. I prefer custard. Nana’s Frozen Custard, to be exact.

You may have noticed that I am posting this a little late. Yep, our last trip to Nana’s was on 9/23. I took pictures but I guess in the busy-ness of work and finishing up my class, I just forgot to post about it. Now, I’m having another Nana’s craving, which made me remember that I needed to do my post.

We aren’t big sweets-eaters around here. It isn’t that we don’t like them, it’s just that I prefer to make things from scratch, so sweets are not always readily available. Ice cream is no exception; from time to time, I will buy some at the grocery store, but it usually results in either the ice cream going bad after we’ve eaten a couple of servings, or us totally eating way too much ice cream in order to avoid the ice cream going bad. Neither is a good thing. Thus, even though it is less cost-effective, we generally buy our ice cream from an ice cream shop. It feels more like a treat that way, anyway. So, Nana’s is a fairly frequent (once every month or two) treat for us.

Nana’s is a walk-up ice cream (excuse me, custard) stand with several picnic tables. They also have a drive-thru window. You can choose a standard, like a cup or cone with varying amounts of any flavor of Nana’s custard, a malt, a shake, a float, a sundae, or a “shiver”, which is similar to a Blizzard…or you can choose a treat off of their extensive original menu. The creations on their menu have interesting names like “Apple Pie Blossom” (a big scoop of vanilla custard melting over apples wrapped in a flaky crust, complimented by warm caramel sauce and brown sugar, “Happy Birthday to You” (Celebration! Cake flavored custard glowing with blue marshmallow frosting and confetti sprinkles, “Frozen Hot Chocolate” (hot cocoa mix blended with vanilla custard, topped by a swirl of marshmallow embedded whipped creme and chocolate sprinkles), and “Chester Frosty” (vanilla custard floating in blue marshmallow creme and Gummi fish, topped with Lifesavers swim “rings” and sprinkled with sandy brown sugar). I always look at the menu and deliberate between the Apple Pie Blossom and Strawberry Shortcake (vanilla custard surrounded by moist pieces of cake, swimming in sweet sliced strawberries and topped with whipped creme), but I always end up getting a cup of custard. Ultimately, I guess I just feel that there is no reason to sully the perfection of Nana’s custard with toppings and mix-ins. There are also a few “food” items on the menu, such as hot dogs, chili, and Frito pie.

The menu of custard flavors available changes on a regular basis. Some flavors are available seasonally (I’m pretty sure I’ve seen pumpkin on the menu, for example). I am not sure if the other flavors change daily, weekly, or what. I assume there is some sort of schedule on which the flavors are available, and, of course, the standards like vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry are always an option. I pretty much rotate through three flavors: mint chocolate chip, lemon, and birthday cake. On this particular night, I had birthday cake. Now, I love birthday cake ice cream. Mayfield’s has a great version, as does Ben & Jerry’s….but Nana’s is the best. I mean, the best. It has actual smashed-up cake in it. I haven’t asked for confirmation on this (I’ll have to next time I’m there) but I think it is Federal Bake Shop cake. At least it tastes like it is. I haven’t done a Federal Bake Shop post yet…..but tasting like it has Federal Bake Shop cake in it is a very good thing. It’s always difficult for me to decide which route to go, though. I love every flavor I’ve tried.

Medium birthday cake ice cream. Yes, we took these pictures on the bench of one of the picnic tables.

Philip always, I repeat always gets the chocolate malt. According to him, Nana’s and Kay’s Kastle are the only places that know how to mix a malt. Usually, the malt powder is clumpy or all stuck at the bottom. At Nana’s, though, the malts are always perfect. Perfectly blended, with just the right amount of malt powder. The malts are the perfect thickness, topped with whipped cream and a malted milk ball (which, oddly enough, Philip hates, even though he loves malts). He is never disappointed (well, except for the time that the “new guy” mixed his malt. But those things happen sometimes).

“Regular” size chocolate malt (as opposed to large)

Let me just lay this out here, though. Nana’s ain’t cheap. It usually costs around $8-$10 for Philip and me to go there, depending on whether I am being prudent and eating a small custard or being “decadent” and eating a medium. I have accepted the expense, though. There’s no waste, and it’s the best ice cream….er, custard….in town. I’m willing to spend a few bucks from time to time to have the best.

There is one downside, though. I don’t post negative reviews about food, because I figure that maybe it’s just me and everyone has their own tastes….but I’m going to comment on the service. I am not crazy about the customer service. I am not the only one that feels this way….when I told people that I was doing a Nana’s post, other people commented that while they loved Nana’s custard, their service needed some work. Nana’s is staffed mainly by teenagers, and it just seems to me that unless good customer service is really stressed to teenagers, they will not deliver. It’s not that they are unfriendly, they just don’t seem too excited to have to open the window and talk to customers. Last time we went, we could see the girl mentally drawing straws to decide who was going to wait on us. Once they open the window, they’re fine….not enthusiastic, but friendly enough. Since they aren’t rude, and the custard is out-of-this-world, I am willing to let it slide….but Nana’s, if you guys are reading this…kick it up a notch!

Nana’s Frozen Custard is located at 6707 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-842-3003. Check out their website or check them out on Facebook or Twitter.