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STORY:
Though it waves in English speakers with the label "ice cream shop," at Paleteria Fernandez, popsicles are the prize. You'll find typical Mexican varieties like tamarind, mango with chili, and "rice pudding" as well as familiar friends like cherry, lemon, and lime, but my instincts sent me looking to the far end of the spectrum. ("I think that's spicier than you'll like it, sir," the counterman said, though not quite in those words.)
The pico de gallo, a mosaic of cucumber, mango, and jicama with orange, chili, salt, and pepper, is, indeed, a spicy popsicle — spicy enough that I chased it with a simpler, creamier guanabana (soursop) paleta not long after.
Even though Paleteria Fernandez seems to have an eye on wholesale business — the popsicles are sold in clear wrappers branded with the shop's name — the paletas themselves are idiosyncratic to a fault. The pico de gallo was aggressively spicy, and the guanabana still contained a few fibers from the soursop that flavored it. (For that matter, the pico de gallo was also presented as the "roaster's mix," the guanabana, as "sour soup.") And at $2 to $2.50, they're about twice the price you'll usually pay for a paleta. Artisinal popsicle, anyone?
Paleteria Fernandez
33 North Main St.,
Port Chester, New York
914-939-3694
Publication Date: August 27, 2007
Reporter: Dave Cook
ALSO:
This slab of focaccia ($2.75) was so large and so soft you could use it for a pillow, except that you'd be picking olives, onions, and roasted red peppers out of your hair. Other eat-on-the-spot choices include ready-made sandwiches, salads, and the like, but the main attraction is the bread — perhaps 20 varieties, each hand-labeled with name and pedigree. Sweeter options include macaroons, croissants, and a reverse-engineered "Ring Ding."
The Kneaded Bread
181 North Main St.,
Port Chester, New York
914-937-9489
Reporter: Dave Cook
MORE:
Waggin' Tail cream soda (12 fl. oz.; $1.50), one of three Freaky Dog flavors, is sweetened with cane sugar rather than corn syrup (and at that price, it had better be); otherwise, just OK.
Marini's Deli
340 Willett Ave.,
Port Chester
914-939-4201
Reporter: Dave Cook
