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WHAT GIVES WITH MAGGIE MOO?  by Smartmom

Does Park Slope really need one more ice cream store?

Strategically positioned across from PS 321 (and next door to Pino’s Pizza), Maggie Moo’s Ice Cream and Treatery is poised to make a killing on the sweet teeth of Park Slope children and parents alike.

That makes six ice cream stores between Union and Ninth Street. There’s Haggen Daz, Uncle Louie’s with 2 shops, Carvel, Fratelli, and now Ms. Moo. There’s also Mr. Softee who parks daily on Second Street, the ices cart, which rolls up to PS 321 on a regular basis, and at least 4 pizza stores that sell Italian ices. Yeesh. Dats a lot of ice cream. Only real estate offices outnumber ice cream shops around here.

So who needs Maggie Moo?

For Smartmom’s ice cream needs, a pint of chocolate Haggen Daz from the Food Coop does the trick. Yet, this blogger from Brooklyn is always interested in the latest consumer developments on Seventh Avenue. Especially those entrepreneurs, like Maggie Moo, brave enough to build in doomed locations.

Yup. you heard me. Maggie Moo took over one of the most famous doomed restaurant spots on Seventh Avenue. For years this one storefront has been the site of one terrible restaurant after the other — the names of which are thankfully forgotten. Terrible food, rotten service, ugly decor, bad ventilation — you name it. Every restaurant that’s gone in there was a disaster.

Smartmom was reminded recently by a local reader that before the site was a doomed restaurant spot it was a newstand where, tragically, the proprieter was murdered. This was back in 1991 when Smartmom first moved to the neighborhood.

Smartmom is curious if Maggie Moo can do it. Can she transcend the curse of her doomed location?

Fortunately, the shop looks completely different from its last few incarnations. Ms. Moo did a major rehab of the space painting it bright pink and orange with spots on the ceiling. Clearly, it was a big money rehab and it has the sniff of a national chain, which it is.  It took weeks and weeks for the store to finally open and for a few days it looked open but they were just doing training sessions for the employees.

On opening day, an employee in a rather elaborate upright cow costume gave out flyers in front of the store. Said cow was wearing a polka dotted Minnie Mouse-style dress and was doing a little dance. Smartmom thought: It is nearly winter and these people are opening an ice cream store. What kind of overconfidence is that? With a cow no less. The first couple of days saw a steady crowd — people are always curious when something new opens in the Slope.

OSFO was dying to go and was completely captivated by the dancing cow. Teen Spirt thought the whole thing was idiotic and he refused to step even one foot in the door. But OSFO was determined. So Smartmom and OSFO went…

Well?

Turns out Maggie Moo is modeled on the Cold Stone Ice Cream concept. That’s a chain that started, like everything else, in California where the servers mash treats of your choice into the ice cream on a slab of marble or stone. There are M&Ms, marshmallows, gummy bears, nuts, Reeses, Heath Bar, KitKat, dried fruit — take your pick. They make a bit of a production out of the mashing process. At Cold Stone, the employees sing Hip Hop style if you tip them. Maggie Moo does no such thing but other than that they’re the same.

On OSFO’s first trip she wanted vanilla ice cream with a KitKat bar mashed in. She watched in awe as the server diced the candy and vigorously smeared it into her ice cream using two silver spoons. The production cost close to $3.00 but Smartmom was okay with that as OSFO’s pleasure is always foremost in her  mind (how do you spell spoiled?) After a few bites, OSFO gave her culinary review:  "Toooo Sweeeet," she said and she didn’t much like the crunchy texture of the KitKat in there. Smartmom took a bite and agreed that the vanilla ice cream was putrid.

Curiosity satisfied, Smartmom figured: been there, done that. She didn’t have a very glowing prognosis for this new addition to Seventh Avenue.

Will Maggie Moo break the curse of its doomed restaurant location? Will Park Slopers choose to spend top dollar on too sweet ice cream? Smartmom will keep you posted. For now, she and OSFO will walk on the other side of the street to avoid the lure of the dancing cow, the bright pink interior, and turquoise ice cream with gummy bears.

Smartmom is the pen name of a certain Park Slope writer and blogger. Her other site: thirdstreet.blogspot.com, chronicles the adventures of Smartmom, her husband, Hepcat, her son, Teen Spirit and the Oh So Feisty One (OSFO), her second grade daughter.