I’m a sucker for ice rink food. Ever since I was a kid, one of the best reasons to go to the rink ,Aei aside from skating, hockey practice or a Sabres’ game ,Aei was the food.
No joke. There’s something about the ice rink grub that grabs me. I was reminded of this during a recent visit to New York City. During our stay we skated at the Bryant Park rink, a dreamy sheet of ice slapped down in the shadow of the Empire State Building. During the summer months, Bryant Park is home to outdoor movies, sort of akin to the Delaware Park Movies in the Meadow or Buffalo State College’s outdoor Italian film screenings next to the Unitarian Church on Elmwood Avenue.
Being the fan of ice rink food that I am, I ordered a hotdog (pictured above). It was one of those long, skinny, sad and floppy wieners street vendors sell everywhere in NYC. The soft pretzel wasn’t any better. It all made me wistful for Buffalo’s Rotary Rink, where the hotdogs, the pretzels and the hot chocolate really do taste better ,Aei not just because its ice rink food and not because everything tastes better, to me, at an ice rink. The grub really is very good at our little downtown rink.
Today is a perfect day to take your friends, family or a date down to the rink for a skate and a snack. The sun is shining, the skating is free (a nominal fee to rent skates if you don’t have your own) and the snacks are cheap and delicious. It’s a great day to be a Buffalonian.