Chicken

A sundae that divided the internet, a Times list that left us off, and my own hard line about ice cream...If you like this post, press ❤️. It tells me it resonated. 🙏🏾

I have never seen chicken and ice cream divide people the way they have this weekend. In May, Nick shared that he and Chef Quie, who is carrying Chef Charles’ legacy at Charles Pan-Fried Chicken into the next generation, wanted to do a collaboration. As you know, May is a busy time for us so we weren’t quite positioned for adding anything new to what was already planned, but last weekend we finally rolled out the collaboration.

Image (L-R): Chef Quie from Charles Pan Fried, Rico from our Team, Chef Charles, Me, and Nick last week in front of the Charles Pan-Fried Chicken on 145th

We served a savory-sweet ice cream sundae. At the Charles Pan-Fried Chicken on 145th Street, customers could build their own with a base of cornbread or peach cobbler with super crispy chicken wings on top. Then they’d come out to our branded tricycle to choose between a scoop of cornbread or mac and cheese ice cream (yes, mac and cheese ice cream) and have it topped with blueberry hot sauce, brandied peach hot sauce, or yam caramel.

Now, when Nick developed this dish, he always envisioned it as a sundae. Chef Quie originally pushed back and felt the dishes should be enjoyed separately. I was agnostic. But, then Nick made us try everything together and it was incredible. We were all converts.

We launched this partnership last weekend (August 2nd) with very little promo. We posted about it several times on Instagram and TikTok. I sent a quick SMS alert to our customer base and that was it.

But this past Friday, we posted another video promoting the collab and positioned the 42-second post with the question, “What if Chicken and Ice Cream became the next Chicken and Waffles?” Three quarters of a million views, 1600+ comments, and 31K+ post shares later, we started a food war on the internet.

Image: BTS of the Instagram insights on this viral post

So many people took offense to the pairing of ice cream and protein while others were completely onboard. The non-believers were especially vocal in the comments of both the Instagram and TikTok posts protesting that we are killing our community, that businesses will do anything for attention, and that we have gone too far. It has truly been comical to witness people be up in arms about this dish, which is being offered without a ton of notice for four-hour stretches of time on random August Sundays when the city is the sleepiest. I have lived in this neighborhood for 22 years and love it down.

No one is dying from a sundae.

I may have responded to several nay-sayers in the comments with, “🎶Moderation and exercise, these are two of our favorite things.🎶” “Don’t knock til you try it” and, “More for us!”

I couldn’t help myself!

Meanwhile, we tried to shut the line down on Sunday around 4:15pm because of the outpouring of support but people pushed back. At the time of this writing, the line is still forming…well past 5pm. A couple of people texted me to say that the line was too long for them but that they’d be back.

We’re going to do it again next Sunday, August 16th at Charles Pan Fried on 145th, from 1pm to 5pm.

But the viral, violent response got me thinking…people get mad when you push the envelope and when they are confronted with new, controversial ideas that they’re not comfortable with or have never experienced.

Discomfort and unfamiliarity are the indicators that you are early, not wrong. But, so often we run from controversy. We keep things safe. We don’t ruffle feathers because what if people talk…and worse what if they violently disagree?

I imagine this is the same feeling the writer of the New York Times piece about the 18 ice cream shops people need to visit in New York City felt when her article was published. Sugar Hill Creamery, among other New York City ice cream staples, was not on her list and many people (that I DO NOT KNOW) called her out for it in the comments of the article and the Instagram post announcing the article.

My heart was warmed by their support and love for our business. And I wondered how the writer felt about those who discredited her perspective and frankly her taste.

Image: Screengrab of one of the article’s comments

I emailed her directly to ask if she had visited the store and if so what went wrong with her experience so that we could improve. Her response was vague, cagey, and one might even classify as shady, so I’ll spare you the details. But, I can imagine she, in her creative confidence, put that list out there and knew on some level that she would be skewered.

Personally, I questioned why soft serve was on the list. I LOVE soft serve, especially in a cake cone. But, to an ice cream person, soft serve is not ice cream. It’s a frozen dessert. So, I guess I have my line, too; it’s just not about chicken and ice cream.

Image: Screengrab of one of the article’s comments

But, when you’re going against the grain, this is the vulnerability and risk you must endure to push new ideas forward.

So here’s the takeaway from all of this—you can’t be too chicken to try new things and present new ideas to the public. Nope. That’s not how we grow.

Petrushka

Your Local Ice Cream Lady & Life/Business Coach