From cupcakes to fro-yo to food trucks, New York City is no stranger to food trends and the summer time is a great time for the latest to come center stage. For the summer of 2010, the New York Times says Popsicles will be all the rage. I’m a sucker for the Times Dining section, so I headed to one of the places mentioned in the article, Pop Bar, on its opening day last week.
- Rows of Popsicles at PopBar
The interior has the clean, minimalistic look of Pinkberry or Red Mango but at nearly half the size, so don’t expect to hang around inside and enjoy. But, hey, if you’re having a Popsicle you should be outside, strolling and wearing a summery dress (or seersucker shorts for the guys). OK, anyway.
At PopBar, you can choose Premium Pops that are already drizzled, dusted and/or covered with toppings like dark, milk or white chocolate dip and nuts, biscotti crumbles or brownie chunks, or go with a Basic Pop and customize with your own mix and match of toppings. Plus, you can pick from Pops with a gelato, sorbet or yogurt base.
For me, deciding between the chocolate-dipped banana and pistachio and chocolate-covered gelato pops was about as hard naming my all-time favorite dessert (note: HARD), but when I asked the girl behind the counter for her pick, she unequivocally declared, “Pistachio!” telling me it was their most popular flavor.
Well, the mass market was right and it was stupendous — and it isn’t often that one uses the word ‘stupendous.’ The only minus is that it’s a bit hard to eat because the shell starts to fall off as you get about half-way down the pop, but, hey, what Dove bar doesn’t do that?
Other than that, it was slightly crunchy, very creamy, and most importantly, tasted far better than the artificially flavored stuff in your grocer’s freezer. It’s such a delightfully fun spin on the artisanal ice cream craze that has swept New York in the last couple of years.
- My pistachio- and chocolate-drizzled Pop and my boyfriend’s coffee Pop covered in nuts and dipped in white chocolate
It’s a bit pricey (in the neighborhood of $3-5), but it’s no different, price-wise, than the city’s other specialty treats. And even though our current, freakishly cold weather may not make these sound appetizing, I order you to go there when the temperature hits 80 degrees again. Stat!
PopBar
5 Carmine St. (at 6th Ave.)
212.255.4874
A, B, C, D, E, F, V to W. 4th St.
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yummy stuff. btw, did you get a hand model to show the Pop on the right? (haha)
Thank you so much, I enjoy reading about other vegetarians and vegans as it gives me the strength to continue. I have about a thousand vegetarian feeds in my google reader, but another can’t hurt!! I did manage to find a good lentil recipe here, but I’ll be sure to try yours too. Thanks!
Dear Archana,
We enjoyed the blog you wrote about popbar when we launched our store in the West Village this past May. You were one of the first to write about us!
After an amazing first summer at Popbar (www.pop-bar.com), we are excited to launch miniPops, the perfect treat for at home consumption and events! miniPops is the first product of it’s kind on the market and we have had a great response during the test phase of the product launch this past month. Even in the winter, people love consuming gelato at home and at events, a trend we have benefited from.
Like popbars, miniPops are handcrafted Gelato on a stick, all natural, made fresh daily with real fruit, preservative free with no artificial coloring and fully customizable with dippings and poppings.
Please let me know if I can email you more information on miniPops, together with our seasonal menu. Additional information can be found on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/popbar/108435729195832
We would like to invite you to visit the store for a tasting of our miniPops. We will be having miniPops tastings at the store the week of January 24th but can meet with you any other time if that week is not convenient for you. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best – Kat