Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Qué Lástima

I was excited when my cousin told me about a new candy shop on the west side. We took it as a good omen that the new store shared its name with her mom and my godmother. Unfortunately Dulceria Lucy is one more upside down question mark at the end of the sentence, "What happened to all the good candy stores?"
I'd rather have a bag of Sour Patch Kids than something made with tamarind, unless it's fresh from a talented candy maker's kitchen. Let's face it, most, if not all of this type of candy (small store with shabby shelves of unfamiliar candy) is imported, and much of it is old and unsold for a reason. Something hard or chewy and vaguely stale and spicy is much worse than an old Aero bar.
After a quick tour through the odd little dulceria, I don't think it's time for an education on why I should love hard candy rolled in chili or ignore articles about lead poisoning and Mexican candy
We have many area chocolate makers such as James J (moving near Dorn Hardware on Midvale in October), Candinas (which sadly did not fly on the Square), the Chocolate Caper, and Gail Ambrosius.


But no more Badger Candy Kitchen, Twee & Luliloo (they didn't cut it with their name, location, selection or unused space), Ben Franklin's isn't what it used to be, and there's nothing but iffy offerings at grocery stores (some gas stations and the Cracker Barrel have to fill that gap).
Where are the magical rows of Chum Gum, wax bottles, wax harmonicas, hot dog gum, sugary blue bubble gum—oh the sparkling playful gumballs—candy lipsticks, free floating candy button strips, jars of giant pretzel rods, Jolly Ranchers, or Turkish Taffy and their siren's call from the slanted shelves of the mom and pop grocers of the sixties.
That's not to say you can't find some great candy, although pricey, in town. But I can only think of one place that has more than chocolate which I'd call a good candy store, and that's James J Chocolate Shop. Their gourmet apples are expensive, but worth it, and should be available by the time they move in October—but it's really their hard candy I love. Their Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pillows are to die for.
So my trip to Dulceria Lucy's was a bust, but I'm finally going to the Daisy Cafe & Cupcakery tomorrow and cupcakes being all the rage, have renewed expectations.

7 comments:

  1. I like your new look. And I was squinting really hard at the candy pillows. :) Close up next time you go?

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  2. You can usually click the photo to get a larger one—maybe the new caption feature prevented that (you could have clicked that caption link to see a medium CU on the shop's site).
    I moved them around so you can see the brown sug cin pillow link more clearly and click on the photo for an enlargement.

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  3. From the Candy Dish Curtain Facebook Page:
    Danie said...
    haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
    well written review...and....don't forget to still look for those old brach's puff candy's for me. i've looked high and low...maybe some day with your candy underworld connections you will be able to find out the fate of those old faves.

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  4. Got my first you don't like this candy store because you are a racist comment. Somehow I knew not liking chili pepper candy or lead poisoning makes you a racist.
    Wonder why I wasn't accused of the same thing when I wrote about Salmonella poisoning and Cadbury.
    Hey, why try to have a conversation or make suggestions from a trusted source?
    Ironic, because if the clerk would have bothered to interrupt his personal phone call and gotten up off his chair to help me, maybe I'd have come away with a new candy to talk about. He barely took a breath, gave me a quick once over and went right back to his conversation.
    The comment was a little too hateful and uninformed to publish. I actually would have posted it if it had been funny.
    The upside, someone is reading.

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  5. Brach's Puff Candy, the discussion continues...

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  6. That race card crap is gettin' old. The "race baiter" is nothing but a void with a sphincter muscle around it!!!!!

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  7. I don't know, Jimbo, I had something like "but I probably haven't given this store or its candy a chance and will make a point of trying Mexican candy elsewhere..." and Blogger ate it. Maybe that was a sign.

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