Douglas Quint can’t remember which came first in life, ice cream or music. But he’s made both into professional pursuits.
As a bassoonist he’s got an active freelance career across the northeast and a fine pedigree, having studied at Tanglewood and earned a bachelors from the Manhattan School of Music and a masters from The Juilliard School. He’s a member of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston and with his long-time ensemble, the Zephyros Winds, he’ll go on an Asian tour next month.
But with last summer’s launch of the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck on the streets of Manhattan, he and his partner
Bryan Petroff have become famous. They’ve received tons of press, were finalists in the 2009 Vendy Awards and have more than 5,000 followers on Twitter, eager to know on where they can find the truck on any given day.
As for Quint’s culintary training, the Pittsfield Maine native recalls, “I worked in the hot dog shack at our little-league field.”
Besides the catchy big gay name, the truck is known for innovative flavors. “The ice cream itself is actually only in simple flavors – vanilla, chocolate, and twist,” explains Quint. “What makes our truck different is how we dress it up. We add interesting things like crushed wasabi peas, pumpkin butter, dulce de leche, olive oil and sea salt, and berries with Saba, a sweet grape syrup that was first produced by the Romans.”
