Complaint Department: Penny Licks

I used to celebrate emotional accomplishments with banana splits. Washing a guy out of my hair (or deciding to purchase the shampoo), as it often was, I ingested many Friendly’s Royal Banana Splits in my late teenage years. I am still very much drawn to complicated frozen treats: toppings, textures, color and taste medleys. With the emergence of such vegan grocery additions as Ricemellow creme, Soyatoo soy whipped cream, and creamy soy ice creams, the vegan ice cream treat has become an exciting home venture. More cost efficient, yes, but the feeling of a carefully constructed decadent sundae placed in front of me, in its completion, goes unfulfilled. New York City is in serious need of a vegan ice cream parlor.

I learned of Penny Licks, a self-billed vegan treat and ice cream parlor in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, recently and had to stop in a.s.a.p. Alas, what was a wonderful idea yet to be adequately executed here in New York City left a real bad taste in my mouth. Disappointingly, the shop was nothing more than a storefront for Vegan Treats goods and Temptation ice cream. Being a vegan consumer advocate, I don’t appreciate hack-job openings that exploit the popularity of the vegan market demand… unless they rear a quality product. Among my many complaints about the place, nothing in the place was made on the premises. Nothing is fresh, local or made from a love of food and quality ingredients. Vegan Treats comes from Pennsylvania and is the Hostess of the vegan dessert world. Temptations ice cream hails from Illinois and, despite its many interesting flavors, is very watery and not creamy. My only wish is that CakeWalk, due to open in Bushwick soon, is not another such disappointment.

This may be all a bit harsh but I hold vegan-friendly establishments to high standards. I’ve long envisioned a olde-fashioned parlor of the vegan kind with creamy homemade soy ice cream, warm fresh-baked goodies and toppings. Maybe I am more disappointed in the fact that I have no business-savvy to open one up myself.