When I was a kid growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, there was this delivery service known as the Pink Dot. How it got that name or why it's even called that, please...I do not know. Anyway, at the time, I was too young to appreciate it then, but you could order up some sandwiches and chips from the Pink Dot...along with cigarettes, beer, booze, condoms and porn mags.
It sounded amazing, I'm sure it was, but as a dopey Dungeons and Dragons playing, "Star Wars" watching, arcade loitering pre-teen I had no idea how awesome that service really was. Not until I found myself back in LA during my "college" years much later where we utilized the service of the Pink Dot and as a twenty something, Heavy Metal addicted, pot smoking, beer drinking nice guy neer-do-well, it was incredible. Outside of all of the vice laden articles we had dispatched, we also threw in some ice cream and frozen burritos to satiate our, uh...cravings that evening.
It was brilliant. Imagine just sitting there, watching re-runs of "Who's the Boss" when suddenly a deep hankering comes over you and you're all: "Man, I could really go for some cookies and ice cream right now, but, I don't wanna make 'em and I certainly don't wanna leave the house to get them. So..."
Well decent citizens of Tucson (especially around the UofA area), you are in luck because there is a delivery service that will bring quality cookies, ice cream and even milk to your front door.
It's called, cleverly enough, The Tucson Cookie Company.
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| Scott Rosen, doing what he do... |
Founded in 2012 by Scott Rosen and a partner the idea was simple: Deliver hot and fresh baked cookies from a fixed menu to sweet toothed Tucsonans late at night. Brilliant.
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| They see me rolling, I'm ballin'... |
"The
Tucson Cookie Co. was created when a partner of mine and I looked at
what we had available," says Scott balling up a signature chocolate chip cookie, "skill wise, property wise, and dream wise. We
thought Tucson could use a late night sweet venue. In
order to test the demand for such a product and service, the Cookie
Company was set-up in an existing restaurant that has been operated by
one of the Company's owners for the past fifteen years."
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| Smash it up! |
Yes, when Chaffin's diner closes, that's when Scott and his delivery team get to work. Once the omelette pans have been put away and the coffee pots cooled, The Tucson Cookie Company springs into action and is ready for the first order when they begin at 6pm and take the last one a half hour before closing (3am Thursday-Saturday and midnight Wednesdays and Sundays).
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| I was lucky enough to smell this, you're gonna have to order to do so... |
"A
typical Cookie Company day" muses Rosen as he flattens a cookies and cream pizza cookie, "is I spend the afternoon shopping for supplies
and prepping dough. We open for deliveries at 6pm with out
first order typically going out the door around 6:30pm. We bake to
order all night long with an emphasis on individual cookies or dozens of
cookies early, in and out, with our infamous pizza cookies being popular later in
the evening."
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| M&Ms in cookies just spells 'Mmmmmm'... |
Here's the thing: The Tucson Homeskillet wouldn't be spotlighting these guys if they were putting out garbage snack fare. Oh sure, it might be easy to just slop together some crap ingredients warm them up and begrudgingly drive it over to your pad and expect repeat business because, hey!, I'm the only cookies and milk delivery service anywhere!
Screw that. Scott knows what he is doing and the Tucson Cookie Company provide a quality product at a really good price. The sweet fare is delicious, chewy and baked to perfection. Even if you the patron is baked to perfection, you can't help but admire the care and technique that goes into each and every order.
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| Balls of glory... |
"All
of the cookie recipes are proprietary and created by me," beams Scott rather proudly. "The
only exception is my chewy ginger cookie. That was my favorite
growing up. It was taught to me by my Mom and is a family recipe."
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| To quote Carcass: Tools of the trade! |
All of the cookies, obviously, are made by hand fresh everyday. The milk comes from a conscious smaller dairy provider and the ice cream is provided by a longstanding drug store known for their amazing vanilla option. In fact this place was a staple when I was a lil tyke growing up in Glendale, CA and we used to either skateboard or bike out of our way to get a scoop of this frosty globed goodness.
No wonder these guys are killing it. Because...they're killing it man.
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| Fantasticalness as far as the eye can see... |
As Scott dollops rows of near sensuous rounds of soon to be consumed cookies onto a sheet about to go into the oven, he informs me with pride "All
cookies are made from scratch with no artificial preservatives. We
use fresh eggs, real butter and only pure vanilla."
The idea behind all good and successful businesses always start with a single or very limited line of product, you do that one thing really well, keep it up, and the people will come and they will most importantly come back for more. And that's exactly what Scott and the Tucson Cookie Company are doing.
Seven different varieties of cookie, three grades of milk and vanilla ice cream. Done. To perfection.
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| A little sprinkle goes a long way... |
When asked about the trials of being a small business owner in Tucson, Rosen had this to say as he was boxing up some ginger and M&M filled cookies.
"The
highs are definitely seeing this business grow and be accepted by the
community. The low points are, unfortunately, dealing with people who want special
treatment, or are super drunk, or just want to be jerks.
"We make cookies...who wants to be a jerk to a guy that makes cookies?"
With orders coming in, I noticed that Scott was making a bunch of different items but also a lot of the same. Seems that he and the Cookie Company have tapped into a few options that are super popular with the late night snack attack crowd.
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| Like Mom used to make...but she never delivered. |
"The
classic chocolate chip is the most popuar of all our cookies by
at least two to one", he informs boxing up a half dozen of his toothsome creations. "I think its because its classic, it’s like mom
used to make. It’s warm, fresh, soft, can satisfy a sweet
tooth, and if needed, provide that comfort you might need when it's dark out."
I can totally see just left the home university students missing mom's (or dad's...they have skills too you know) homemade cookies and when the time comes when it's quiet and the strange feeling of being thrust into the real world sinks in, you're gonna want a feeling of home and a taste of something yummy and familiar.
Let Scott and the Tucson Cookie Company be your surrogate when that time does arrive.
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| Line 'em up, I'll take it! |
"Why
not cookies for delivery?" after I asked the obvious. "There is Jimmy Johns, Eat-a-Pita, and pizza and Chinese for delivery in general. Obivously
there are more options but as you get later in the evening it slims to
pizza and the occasional sandwich. We wanted to offer a dessert that is
popular and is often made to taste machine or bulk made. I
pride myself on the fact that these are homemade. Also, because
delivery rocks!"
And what about the future for the Tucson Cookie Company?
"Our
plans for the immediate future are to keep growing and serving
cookies to Tucson. In that we hope to me hope our very first
storefront where can serve more of Tucson.
We
also hope that down the road to open more locations."
That said, I left as Scott was dealing with more orders coming in and it wasn't even close to 8pm yet. His night had just begun and the Tucson Cookie Company is only just beginning as well.
All I can say about that, is...sweet.
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| "Metal Mark...get out. I'm busy here! No, seriously...who are you?" |
Camera and Typing
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
Early October, 2015
Metal Influence:
Melvins
