Meghan Keneally A mural at the forthcoming shop.

Last time the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck updated its blog, the East Seventh Street store was due to open in mid-August. Well, it’s mid-August, and there is still no sign of the Choinkwich. What gives? Yesterday, owner Doug Quint explained in a blog post that final electrical upgrades were set to start this week, and “could take up to two weeks- but hopefully less.” In the meantime, he has a request: “Please, I do ask you refrain from tweets and Facebook posts asking when we’re going to open. After two months and thousands of such messages, it’s really just becoming overwhelming.” So relax already, and maybe head up to the Cape this Friday to catch the truck’s pop-up event there.

Over the weekend, the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck (which is following in the footsteps of Van Leeuwen in adding an East Village store to its mobile enterprise) updated its blog readers on the progress of its hotly (coolly?) anticipated brick-and-mortar debut. Pending some electrical upgrades, the storefront at 125 East Seventh Street should finally open in mid-August with Oslo coffee, baked goods from The Treats Truck, and a store-only Choinkwich (chocolate ice cream and bacon sandwiched between chocolate cookies).

Meghan Keneally The chef Anthony Bourdain earlier today.

The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck had a famous fan on Tuesday afternoon, with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain stopping by while filming a segment for his new television show.

The truck, which has been around since 2009 and has more than 19,300 followers on Twitter, was parked on 17th Street and Broadway when Mr. Bourdain stopped by for his yet-unaired Travel Channel show, tentatively titled “The Layover.” Fans watched as the chef waited for 15 minutes like the rest of us food plebeians to get his hands on a “Salty Pimp” cone (vanilla soft serve with dulce de leche and sea salt, dunked in chocolate coating). According to a crew member, the show will air in either November or January.
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