Every month or two our mailbox is graced by it's free copy of Rockland Magazine. Yep, an entire magazine devoted to how awesome it is to live in Rockland County, NY! Call me cynical, call me an outsider, call me a sulky Gen X-er, but I just. do. not. get how anyone reading or writing for this magazine can take them seriously. Mostly we just giggle at it, and read the restaurant reviews in case there's anything good to eat that we've missed. But, occasionally Rockland Magazine redeems itself in our eyes (though only for a month or two, cause we're fickle like that). Over the summer it told us about a decent BBQ joint in Blauvelt (Baily's Smokehouse, if you're in the area. It's nothing you'll dream about, but they do have an actual smoker at least!), and last week it informed me that there is a 112 year old family run chocolate shop in the county. That was worth knowing for sure.
So I checked the website on Saturday, found out that they were open until 6pm, and off we all set for Lucas Candies in Haverstraw. Its on Main Street, and Main St in Haverstraw is a kind of run down place. Nice bones (lovely old brick buildings), but depressed. It was a gray, cold, windy day. We parked and hurried over to the shop.
And damn if it wasn't closed. I think each of the four of us was near tears as we stared hopelessly into the dark interior (past the display of enormous chocolate bunnies) and walked back and forth between the two doors. I have no idea why they were closed- there wasn't a sign explaining the change from normal business hours. To soothe our disappointment we drove over to Blauvelt for some BBQ. That worked reasonably well, but brought another disappointment of it's own. Prices had gone up! And side dishes had gone down! Our normal order, the BBQ sampler for 2, used to be $25 and come with fries and 2 sides. Now it's $30 and comes with 2 sides and a salad that was so crappy (it was literally drowning in a pool of dressing that tasted to be more or less 99% straight vinegar) we didn't finish it. Robert loves salad and abhors leaving any food behind. We did not finish the salad. The meat was still decent, thankfully. But in the end it did leave me longing for Texas.
So, the moral of the story is: do not drive to Haverstraw without first calling the chocolate shop, unless you have a craving for some New York-style bbq (cue old Pace commercial here...).
6 comments:
Get a rope.
i hate that more than anything. when i want something (especially to eat) there is nothing more disappointing than to show up to a closed shop. damn shop hours. what happened to cocaine driven people open all hours?????
Come back to Texas, it's just not the same since you went away, before you lose your accent ...okay, I'll stop "singing" and since you are a lyrics aficionado, with a diverse taste in music, you probably know who sings that. You would win any contest I ever put on but anyway...come to Texas, I want to see you and we'll treat you to any BBQ that you want!
He he he. Tamara is on cue.
Why the heck is a BBQ sampler $30???!!!!! There better be a darn lot of meat on it, cuz you know it ain't organic.
What often disappoints me is DRY BBQ. I like my BBQ meats tender and juicy and fall-apart tender. Often they are dry and sinewy and so hard to eat. AND expensive...
That's why I cook for a livin', yo. I'll make it myself, thank you very much.
So crappy about the 112 year old chocolate factory. But seriously, do you really want to eat chocolate that old?
LMAO at TL!
I had this same event happen and I understand the disappointment!
Except it was a paper scrapbooking store instead of chocolate. Maybe my changing obsessions will change my waistline!
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