点评:Time for another review of my favorite creemee place. The creemees are a bit larger than last year it seems, and the prices are still super-reasonable. No surprises at the Sugar Shack, a delightful trip through rural NY and South-Western Vermont, albeit 40 plus miles one way for us. Been there perhaps a dozen times since 2024, still have found nothing that would make me even think about a rating less than 5 stars.
I am a picky, demanding, relatively hard to please customer. I believe that the key to running a business is consistency. Run whatever kind of business you want to run but be consistent. The customer has a right to know what to expect next time, after his first visit . Any business can hit it just right and deliver a world class experience once; the key to a steady 5 star rating is to deliver that time and time again.
Sugar Shack does exactly that. Their creemees are, quite simply put, perfect. First time, third time, eighth time, twelfth time. Never varying in intense maple flavor that tastes just like syrup right out of the jug. Never poor consistency. Always, always, thick and creamy and substantial. I did notice one difference late last summer; the size of the large cones increased a bit with no corresponding price increase.
Prices for the creemees are super reasonable. Five of us went there the other day and the bill was pennies over $20. Two larges, 3 smalls. For a premium quality cone filled with plenty of ice cream, being sold in a touristy area, that is phenomenal.
Don't like ice cream? What the heck is wrong with you???? :) Nevertheless, their apple cider donuts, especially the cinnamon coated version, are really good. Always fresh, and much less greasy than the genre is known for. Not heartburn, no disgusting grease soaked bag on the way home, just plain great flavor and freshness.
Time for a bit of a ramble. These people, and their business, are real. The two young ladies that run the store are charming and efficient. They are nice to customers because they are nice people, not because there is a tip jar on the counter. I have been on enough cruises and eaten in enough restaurants in my 76 years to have developed a pretty accurate sense of someone being phony because they are in a tipped position, and being blunt, this ain't that.
It would seem that the key to the Sugar Shack for me is the realness, the staff, the creemees. Somehow though there is more. They have a wonderful tree shaded side yard with old fashioned picnic tables.
Those tables outside, so unassuming, so very not fancy, so utterly 'country', just fit perfectly with the trees and the overall rural ambiance. Going there is relaxing and brings me back to being a much much younger version of myself. Born and raised in NYC, at 14 the family moved to a town in Upstate NY with a population of 1200. Sugar Shack brings back memories of little roadside ice cream places and snack bars and a slower, more peaceful, just plain better time.
The owner and her staff (relatives if I understand correctly) are providing a lot more than ice cream and maple syrup and assorted delicious premium treats and foodstuffs. They are bringing us back in time to when business was interactions between people, not transactions with a multi-national corporation.
Well done, ladies, well done.
翻译:是时候再来评测一下我最喜欢的冰淇淋店了。今年的冰淇淋个头似乎比去年大了些,价格也依然非常实惠。Sugar Shack果然没让人失望——那里是纽约州乡村地区以及佛蒙特州西南部的绝佳去处,虽然对我们来说单程就要开40多英里。自2024年起,我已经去过那里大概十几次了,至今仍找不出任何能让我给出低于5星评价的理由。
我是个挑剔、要求高且相当难以取悦的顾客呢。我认为,经营企业的关键就在于一致性。无论你想经营何种业务,都必须保持一致性。顾客有权知道,在首次光顾之后,下次还能期待怎样的体验。任何企业都有可能偶然提供一次世界级的优质服务;而要持续获得五星评价,关键在于一次又一次地做到这一点。
Sugar Shack正是这样做的。他们的冰淇淋简直完美至极——无论是第一次、第三次、第八次还是第十二次光顾,品质始终如一。其浓郁的枫糖风味始终如一,尝起来就像直接从罐子里倒出来的糖浆。质地也从未出现过问题——始终浓稠、顺滑且扎实。去年夏末时我注意到一点变化:大号甜筒的尺寸稍微增大了,但价格并未随之上涨。
这些甜筒的价格相当公道。前几天我们五个人去光顾,最终账单才刚刚超过20美元而已。我们点了两个大号甜筒和三个小号甜筒。能以这样的价格买到品质上乘、装满大量冰淇淋的甜筒,实在物超所值。在旅游区售卖,这真是了不起啊。
不喜欢冰淇淋?你到底怎么回事啊???? :) 不过,他们的苹果酒甜甜圈,尤其是撒了肉桂糖的那款,真的非常美味。总是新鲜出炉,而且不像这类甜甜圈那样油腻。吃了也不会反胃,回家时包装袋也不会沾满恶心的油渍,只有纯粹的美味与新鲜口感。
现在来闲聊几句吧。这些人以及他们的生意都是实实在在的。这家店的两位年轻女店员既迷人又干练。她们对顾客友善,是因为她们本身就是好人,而并非因为柜台上有小费罐。在我76年的人生中,参加过不少邮轮旅行,也光顾过众多餐馆,因此我能很准确地分辨出哪些人是因为靠拿小费谋生才装出友善模样的。坦率地说,这里的情况并非如此。
对我而言,Sugar Shack的魅力就在于它的真诚、友善的员工以及美味的冰淇淋。不过,还有更多值得说的。他们有一个绿树成荫的侧院,里面有老式的野餐桌。
那些户外的桌子看似普通至极,一点都不花哨,完全就是“乡村风格”,但却与周围的树木以及整体的田园氛围完美契合。去那里让我心情放松,还能让我回想起年轻得多的自己。我在纽约市出生长大,14岁时全家搬到了纽约州北部一个仅有1200人的小镇。Sugar Shack勾起了我对那些路边小冰淇淋店和小吃摊的回忆——那是一个节奏更慢、更加宁静,也无比美好的年代。
店主和她的员工们(如果我没理解错的话,他们都是她的亲戚)所提供的,远远不止是冰淇淋、枫糖浆以及各种美味的高品质食品。他们带我们回到了那个商业的本质在于人与人之间的互动,而非与跨国企业进行交易的年代。
干得好,女士们,做得太好了。