Blue Pig Opening In Manhattan

By on May 15, 2007 12:09 pm in Food, News

blue pigAccording to the Midtown Lunch site (via Eater) Blue Pig Ice Cream is poised to open an outpost on East 43rd Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenues:

2. The sandwich place T.A.O.S. has closed, and will be replaced by a Blue Pig Ice Cream Parlor. They already have two locations, one in Brooklyn Heights, and another in Westchester County. It’s not as exciting as the Yolato news, but we’ll take it. Speaking of Yolato, the owners plan on having the new Grand Central location open by the end of June.

I had a hunch this would happen soon, as I read in the March 1st, 2007 edition of The Brooklyn Heights Press a legal notice announcing the formation of “Blue Pig Of Manhattan LLC”. Attached to this notice was the name Alan Young, lawyer, and former partner of the previous “Corner Of Cranberry” venture. Blue Pig Ice Cream is pretty good, but is it good enough to warrant a chain? What do you think?

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  • http://brooklynenthusiast.blogspot.com/ Brooklyn Enthusiast

    I love the brand and feel of the store. I can see it being popular in the city. I thought the product was good, but not amazing. We had the cake batter, which tasted exactly like cake batter, but it had lumps in it (perhaps to resemble the actual stuff?) I prefer the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. I also worked at Ben & Jerry’s when I was a teenager and am brand loyal as a result. But everytime we pass by Blue Pig, there is always a long line so it must be a testament to their product.

  • Joe

    NICE! I work right there!

  • http://............... dontkeepquiet

    I am going to start by asking people to stop going to Blue Pig, and once you read this, you will understand why boycotting this establishment is for a legitimate reason.

    The Blue Pig is an ice cream store located at 60 Henry street, right off the corner of Henry and Cranberry streets. I am asking you to boycott this store for several reasons, both for moral reasons and health reasons. As a former employee, I got the chance to see how things were operated behind the scenes. The first issue: I believe the owner (her name is Julia) to be racist regarding African Americans. My first day there I was being trained by an African American girl, and we got to talking about how much we were getting paid. She had been working there for a while and made minimum wage, while I was already making 9 an hour during my first day. I was the only white person working there at the time, along with 2 African American and 2 Latina young women. I made the most money. I happen to know that the only reason they all eventually began to make 9 an hour was because they all found out how much I made and complained, because they had all been there longer. Thats the first issue.

    The second issue is a little more disturbing. Before I began working at the Blue Pig I worked at Carvel for a year. I know everything there is to know about how to operate, clean, take apart and put back together a soft serve ice cream machine. When I worked at Carvel, I learned that it is Imperative to clean the machines, which meant to take them completely apart from time to time so that the inner parts of the machine can get cleaned and to clean them out regularly for a general cleaning every night. That means, disposing of leftover ice cream, and cleaning out the ice cream compartments with steaming hot water and special soap. If machines are not properly cleaned, they grow mold deep inside the compartments, and it is not usually found unless one were to take apart the machine for a routine deep cleaning. Anyway, when I began working at Blue Pig I quickly learned that their soft serve machine was not cleaned at all. The ice cream mix is left in the machine all the time, even overnight, and the machine never gets cleaned. People who open every morning are instructed to just stir the mix around in the top of the machine (because it separates). I found this fact to be completely revolting. Even cleaning machines out every night and taking them apart for a better cleaning from time to time doesnt stop mold from growing in the small crevices in the machine. Ive had much experience with finding mold, and an almost cottage cheese like substance that grows inside the machines. Now, the fact that they dont clean the machine at all, I cant even imagine what the inside of the machine looks like. This could potentially make someone very sick, especially a young child. One day, when the owner, Julia, was there I told her that I knew everything there was to know about operating and cleaning soft serve machine and all of its many parts and pieces. She simply said, “ok, thats good to know” but never once asked me to do any of it. No one else who worked there knew anything about soft serve machines except for me.

    Another disturbing fact that you may want to know about is health inspection. The day the health inspectors came, they were at Busy Chef (located next door) and Blue Pig was next in line for inspection. However, we were instructed to remain closed, because apparently the health inspectors cannot come into a store to inspect it, unless it is open. We normally opened around 10:30/11, but this day we didnt open untill the health inspectors left at 2pm. Avoiding the health inspectors is pretty sketchy to me.

    I was let go from the Blue Pig not too long ago. Some people think that it was because I knew too much about things no one else who worked there did, such as not letting the store be inpected by the inspectors (since I was one of only two people working that day), and not cleaning the machines, which could potentiall make people ill. The reason Julia gave me for letting me go was that, although I was very good at taking direction, I didnt “take enough initiative”, which is poppycock if you were to ask any of my former coworkers. In fact, my manager tried to convince her to let me stay, but for some reason she still insisted that I be let go (even though she had been in the store with me, and watched me work only twice the entire time I worked there).

    Anyway, I hope you will all take this information into consideration and decide to never step foot into the Blue Pig, and for those of you who have been there….think about the last time you ate their softserve….was it really a lactose intolerant reaction? or was it months worth of mold floating in your stomach?? even if you didnt get sick, maybe you or your child/ren will next time. think about it.

  • No One of Consequence

    There have been several other reports of questionable hygiene practices at the Blue Pig discussed on BHB (unwashed hands, finding hairs in ice cream).
    Your report is disturbing and (from my understanding of law) would be considered libel if false, and likely with malicious intent, especially since you were let go.
    I, too, recall the ancient past working in a burger joint and having to meticulously clean the milkshake machine every night. Similar contraptions, I assume.
    Personally, I prefer the spumoni available from Fascati’s. Damn that Ralph Ice for only producing in the summer.

  • http://........ dontkeepquiet

    everything that ive said is true. ill admit that at the time i was let go, i was a little upset, but realized that it wasnt a big deal because i could easily find another job, which i did.
    everything ive stated about the hygiene is true. the racist attitude from the owner is however only my speculation based on observation.

  • No One of Consequence

    I wasn’t calling you a liar and thanks for the level-headed disclaimer about the allegation of racism.
    I don’t think that the fact that you were paid more in spite of their tenure is enough to make a clear case for racism. You state you have significantly more experience. You don’t indicate your gender, but you do note that they were all women, so it could be just as likely be sexism (this, of course, is only an example of how it could be something other than racism and not a statement about the employment practice of the Blue Pig).

  • http://........ dontkeepquiet

    Yes, the fact that I had previous experience most likely helped, and I did think of that, but then I learned that one of the other girls had previous experience also. So then I was just confused. I really dont know what they based the payroll for everyone on, that was just the only think I thought of that made any sort of sense to me. But if you can think of any other reason, let me know. Maybe there are other things that i just hadnt thought of. (And Im female, by the way)

  • Blue Pig Doesn’t Melt

    I decided not to go there because I kept getting “stomach aches” after eating their ice cream, which never happens with Haagen daz. Also, I just can’t help but think that if food is glow in the dark, it’s probably not good for you. I know the kids probably like all those neon colors, but come on! that much food coloring can’t be good for you… anyone remember Red M&M’s?
    Then I started to notice that there’s a lot of ice cream on the streets surrounding Blue Pig, heading towards the Prom (Cran, ORange, Henry). It’s not the litter that disturbs me the most, I know they can’t control what patrons throw on the ground. What I find to be most disturbing is that their ice cream doesn’t seem to melt. The glow-green especially… it just sits on the sidewalk in a lump, for more than 2-3 days….. what’s up with that? And i’ve seen dogs walk by without straining to eat it off the ground. not trying to be inflamatory, but ice cream that doesn’t melt in the summer sun just can’t be good for you!

  • Arthur_G

    most people over, say, two tend to have an increasingly difficult time digesting dairy, especially that of another species. hence the stomach ache?

    just sayin’

  • Fan of The Blue Pig

    The comments about The Blue Pig are so nasty. An employee who was let go ( and for good reasons, I would think) and now, is on a campaign to discredit the store, is vindictive and childish to say the least. I love the ice cream and the store. Every time I have been in the store it is clean, the staff is friendly and nice, and certainly kid friendly. I have spoken to the owner and learned that they make premium ice cream ( 16% butterfat ) , which they get from the same Ice Cream company that the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory uses. Nasty, Nasty, Nasty. The Blue Pig is a fun place that is good for the Heights.

  • Blue Pig Doesn’t Melt

    and the increased fat content is what keeps it insulated on the sidewalk? or is the, ah, “premium” food coloring? no thanks, i’ll stick to haagen daz. it melts, and digests, and i don’t have to worry about turning a violent shade of pink, blue or perhaps green…

  • http://.................. dontkeepquiet

    Im not being vindicitve, I already stated before (and maybe if you had taken the time to read it you would have seen) that the fact that i was let go isnt even the issue, and Im not bitter about it, and Im being as adult about it as possible.

    If you dont believe any of these things I have said about the hygeine practices in the store (which has been noticed by other people as well, which you can also read above if you take the time), then why dont You go get a job there, and then see what goes on. You dont have a problem with the fact that they kept the store closed untill mid afternoon so that they could avoid the health inspectors? If you dont have a problem with that sketchy behavior, then fine, continue eating there. But I feel like people deserve to hear it.

  • Sorry. But it’s still great ice cream.

    Can’t speak to the racism issues or the cleanliness. To me, a former employee who was let go isn’t real credible.

    What I can speak to is the taste of the ice cream itself, which my wife and I just love. The flavors are inventive and for the most part delicious. We love Magic Mood Pig Food, Coconut Butterfinger, the Oreo/Cookies & Cream, Pumpkin. I’m actually not a huge fan of the flavor Blue Pig (which I believe is just vanilla with coloring and M&Ms) but my wife loves it.

    More than anything, I’ll choose to support a local business over the Haagen Dazs (which I also like) any day. The staff are friendly, the owner (who I’ve met a few times) seems lovely, and it is a real neighborhood place.

    It’s feast or famine for those restaurants on that strip of Henry – you either have the Henry’s End or Noodle Pudding, which will never be displaced, or you have the rest of the storefronts, which are revolving doors for restaurants. The rents are high, the clientele discerning, and it really takes so much for businesses to be successful there.

    So, when I find a place that is really good, and is a local business, I’ll support it – libel aside.

  • Anita

    How did the name “Blue Pig” come about?

  • Emily

    I just went to blue pig (the new one) and the employee working told me that the ice cream was all fat free. So I bought the biggest amount possible. Now I look online, and there is NO news about it being fat free. What is the story?