| The Quintessential Dessert |
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Page 1 of 2 S&S Cheesecake222 West 238th Street   The delectable cheesecakes at S & S Cheescake are more than worth a trip to the Bronx There’d be a small and plain boxed cheesecake whenever Grandpa Sam visited us, his well-earned reward for the long bus trip from Tremont Avenue to the Castle Hill Projects in the Bronx. Holidays promised a slam-dunk supply of these delicacies as well, the cheesecake being the star desert and always the first to go, leaving jealous layer cakes and strawberry shorts behind in its wake. At times, I’d even catch a jumbo-sized cheesecake sitting in the foyer by the front door, purchased by my father after a particularly bitter spat between he and mom. For my parents, those cheesecakes were the granddaddy of all olive branches. I remember seeing the telltale white cardboard box, knot tied on top to exquisite precision with red candy striped string. Plain cheesecakes would usually remain intact until desert time that night--not a fingerprint on them. The pineapple cheese ones though, way too scrumptious to ignore, would get a preview poking from either my big sister Lori or I, as we expertly edged a meddling pointer into the corner of the cake box, taking great care to retrace our steps back out to destroy the evidence. We hoped against hope for an unmarked sampling, but knew full well we’d be caught. At first mom would be angry, a scolding finger poised and ready to reprimand. Sis and I would shrug ourselves out of it, cajoling mom into have a sampling herself, from the trail we had covertly blazed just moments before. After her first bite of the dreamy cheesecake, we knew that all would be forgiven. Predictably it was, and we’d celebrate the peace treaty with some quick slices divvied up. With a nostalgic heart in tow, I took a trip over to the S&S Cheesecake factory located at the northern most edge of the Riverdale section in The Bronx. S&S Cheesecake has an impressive 60-plus years endurance record and is still going strong. When I get to its factory, I am welcomed by the aroma. The sweet and lusty scent of confection, catapulted boldly out the front door, taking both a left and a right turn in wrapping itself around the immediate block. On impulse, I approached a nearby proprietor, he himself pulling down the awning of his storefront in wrapping up his long day’s work. He sees me approaching and stops at half mast, perhaps hoping that I will be that one last customer for the day. “I am doing a story on S&S Cheesecake” I inform him. With that, he shuts me down with a knowing smile and a “say no more” gesture. He tells me that being roomies with S&S is nothing less than a jackpot. “A day doesn’t go by when this company isn’t barraged with customers” he says. “If they’re busy, then we’re busy so business booms for the entire block.” As I walk away, he adds that he too has been a longtime S&S Cheesecake fan, and treats himself to a slice at least once a week. True to form and sure enough, the steady stream of “after-baking” hours junkies come through this day. |