If you think all Italian ices are created the same, you obviously haven\u2019t met Douglas Cappleman and his wife Kristine Tonkin \u2014 and clearly, you haven\u2019t visited their West Side Italian ice trailer, Pop-Pop Feducchi\u2019s Italian Ice and Ice Cream.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not only will they serve you an outstanding Italian ice, in flavors both traditional and unique, ranging from cherry to Mangonada Magic, they\u2019ll offer you a lesson in the differences between their Italian ices and everybody else\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Theirs, they say, is Philly-style. It differs from those you can get at chain Italian shops in that theirs are made from all-natural ingredients.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA Philadelphia-style Italian ice is made with three ingredients: fruit, sugar, and water, and that\u2019s it,\u201d says Tonkin. \u201cSome places, instead of using real fruit, they\u2019ll use syrup. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that, but it\u2019s not how we make them. It\u2019s not the Italian ices I grew up on.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Makes sense the couple would gravitate toward this style of Italian ices \u2014 Tonkin is, after all, a Philly expat. As a kid, she fell in love with Italian ices in the same way that many of us Texans fell in love with sno-cones, a close relative of the Italian ice. Summer nights, a cold treat, surrounded by friends and family \u2014 these are the memories and experiences that inspired her to, after years of dreaming and planning, open the trailer this past summer; it\u2019s parked at the Rivercrest Service Center on Camp Bowie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Italian ices aren\u2019t as prevalent locally as sno-cones, they\u2019re becoming more well-known, thanks to the arrival of Rita\u2019s Italian Ice, a chain with locations in Arlington and the mid-cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Italian ices differ greatly from sno-cones in two significant ways: the texture of the ice and how they\u2019re flavored.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe texture of the ice for an Italian ice is fluffy and soft,\u201d Cappleman says. \u201cThe texture is way smoother than a sno-cone. There\u2019s special equipment you need to make Italian ices if you want to do them right.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In putting together their Italian ice trailer, they traveled to Indiana to purchase an authentic Italian ice machine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All-natural ingredients, the couple says, give Italian ices their distinct flavor, setting them apart from sno-cones and other cold and frozen treats.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s both the ice and what\u2019s mixed into the ice,\u201d Tonkin says. \u201cWe use fresh fruit for all of our ices. You can see and taste and feel little chunks of it in every bite.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
West-Siders have been lining up ever since the couple launched the trailer in July. But that\u2019s not just because of their Italian ices. They also serve \u2014 and make themselves \u2014 Philly-style ice cream.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Philadelphia-style ice cream, Tonkin says, is ice cream made without eggs, as opposed to the more common French-style ice cream, which uses a custard base.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNot having any eggs in the base makes it lighter and creamier,\u201d Tonkin says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t weigh on you as heavily.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their ice cream flavors are craft inspired: banana pudding, Orange Cloud Cream, Darker Chocolate, and pandan. Again, instead of artificial flavorings, they use real ingredients, from chopped up bits of chocolate, crumbled cookies, and for Checkmate, their must-get ice cream flavor, real pieces of chess pie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Admittedly, they say, it\u2019s a lot of work. \u201cThere are a lot of shortcuts we could take, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Cappleman says. \u201cPart of the fun of doing this is the work involved and then seeing the results of that work, seeing people say, \u2018This is great\u2019 or seeing the same people come back over and over, making their way through the menu.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tonkin says the trailer\u2019s name was inspired by her family. One of her grandfathers was from Italy, and he nicknamed her \u201cFeducchi.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe nicknamed all of us Feducchi,\u201d she says, laughing. \u201cThat\u2019s just what he called all the kids. I was Feducchi, my sister was Feducchi.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And \u201cpop pop,\u201d she says, was a common nickname given to grandfathers in Philly. \u201cI called both of my grandfathers \u2018pop pop.\u2019 When I first started dreaming about doing this, I knew I wanted to pay tribute to them, so this is me honoring them, remembering them.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Currently, Pop-Pop\u2019s is only open weekend evenings. The two still have day jobs \u2014 careers in the transportation industry, actually, that they\u2019ve invested their lives in. He\u2019s a local truck driver; she works as a merchant and channel partner manager.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unlike some people who get the restaurant bug and jettison their careers to pursue a life of food, Tonkin and Cappleman are moving slowly, seeing how things unfold, taking this one step at a time, they say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead of a brick-and-mortar, the two are dreaming about opening another, far less headache-inducing venture: a commercial kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat, right now, is the ultimate goal for us, to have some more space,\u201d Tonkin says, laughing. \u201cHave you worked in a food truck? Have you ever tried to make things from scratch in a food truck? There\u2019s not a lot of space. So, what we\u2019d really love is a big commercial kitchen where we\u2019d have some storage, some room to move around and cook \u2014 and then have a walk-up window for customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019d ever want to give up our trailer, to be honest,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s been such a dream to get it that I don\u2019t think I\u2019d ever want to lose it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pop-Pop Feducchi\u2019s Italian Ice and Ice Cream, 4621 Camp Bowie Blvd., instagram.com\/poppopfeducchis\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n