Set off of Pompton Avenue is a little shop you may have missed.
The store, filled with sweet treats, is perched at the end of a long walkway far from the busy street, which while affecting visibility is actually the perfect little spot for this shop.
Twist, the newly reopened frozen yogurt and Italian ice shop at 492 Pompton Ave., certainly will not go overlooked for long.
Owner Jim Polidoro recently reopened the store after first launching his business last October. He quickly realized fall was the wrong time of year to open a frozen yogurt and Italian ice shop. So he closed down and geared up for the high season, reopening the store a few weeks ago with a whimsical purple sign and matching bright purple trim. And, soon Polidoro hopes to fill his front walk-turned-patio with patrons.
And why not? With close to 20 frozen yogurt flavors and over 40 toppings, Polidoro promises there will be something to “satisfy everyone’s palate.”
Find out what's happening in Verona-Cedar Grovefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Twist will also offer 18 Italian ice flavors, which Polidoro observed is twice as many as Rita’s Ice.
“The most unique thing that we changed,” Polidoro explained, “is customers can create their own flavors. They can get as wacky as they want and have as much fun as they want.” He added, “That’s something no one else has.”
Find out what's happening in Verona-Cedar Grovefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Indeed. Polidoro has an entire self-serve frozen yogurt machine dedicated to mixing up to 8 different flavors. Bound to delight the four and up set with such tantalizing options as Blue Goo, Bubble Gum, Watermelon and Butterscotch, customers can mix and match all the flavors to their hearts content or their mothers reprimand them. And, all the yogurt is either low-fat or no-fat without any added sugar.
For those with more discerning tastes Twist also offers traditional flavors like Tahitian vanilla, mango and triple chocolate. But none of these flavors are Polidoro’s most popular. For a real treat patrons pick red velvet.
“Red velvet is a best seller,” he said.
Whatever your flavor, after you fill up your cup, you can head over to the toppings bar where everything from Nutella and Reese’s Peanut Butter Sauce to Twix and Almond Joy pieces are offered. Twist even has a mysterious little topping called Mochi.
“It’s like a Japanese marshmallow,” Polidoro explained.
Even if you’re not into the whole frozen dessert thing, Twist leaves no dessert-lover destitute. The store also carries the “it” cupcake of the moment: Stuffed Cupcakes from Nutley, which have been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine and The New York Times, as well as on the Cooking Channel and NBC.
At the moment Twist carries eight flavors, stuffed with such deliciousness as canoli cream, Oreo cookie cream and peanut butter. And to pair with your cupcake, is the intense yet creamy Lavazza coffee the store carries. Polidoro noted the coffee is the most popular brand in Italy.
“People into coffee should try this,” he insisted.
After customers select their desserts, Polidoro hopes the expansive patio, scattered with plenty of cushiony chairs and high-top tables will invite people to linger, particularly on sunny spring days or hot summer nights. And to make sure they do, he plans to have a DJ spinning tunes outside every Saturday and Sunday.
Even without the DJ, Twist has a vibrant, beachy summertime feel. So, even if you can’t make it down the Shore this summer, at least you can go to Twist and feel like you are.
Twist
492 Pompton Ave.
Cedar Grove
