Ted Kennedy was enjoying mocha chip ice cream, my personal fave, in his last days, according to this piece in today's WaPo.
While the Howard Johnson's Mocha Chip of my ( and Kennedy's) youth is long gone, the flavor has resurfaced in offerings from Starbuck's--Java Chip Frappuccino comes close. The Internets tell me that Honey Hut, in Cleveland, Ohio, sells a nifty mocha chip.
M. chip was one of the original 28 flavors of ice cream from Howard Johnson's menu--he started his business in Quincy, Massachusetts, with homemade ice cream, doubling the butter fat content, and attracting a slew of customers. His first roadside restaurant in 1929 led to a chain of 400 by 1954. Cleverly, Johnson had forseen the need for family eateries along the nation's toll roads.
Alas, by the late 1970's, the Hojo roadside joint was fading, as the company zoomed into the lodging business. Thereafter the brand was bought and sold many times over.
Today there are 3 actual HoJo restaurants in operation, in Bangor, Maine, Lake George, NY, and Lake Placid, NY. I visited the Lake Placid place a few years back, and gorged on fresh onion rings, fried clam roll and, mocha chip ice cream. Heavenly.
FYI Keep up with the HoJo saga here--apparently we may see a return of Hojo's!
My mother-in-law was a huge fan of DD coffee, claiming it was the most frequently brewed, hence freshest road coffee available.
Posted by: Foodie | August 29, 2009 at 09:58 AM
Of course, Dunkin' Donuts, the other major chain based in Quincy (which has also changed hands too many times to count) is, if you believe their hype, what runs America.
Posted by: Ezra | August 28, 2009 at 07:32 PM
Caught! just finished a pint of StarB's MC last night... mmm
Posted by: suz | August 28, 2009 at 11:04 AM