Moriarty’s Sundaes

Still my favorite dessert in any season. I met my first Butterscotch Sundae at PJ Moriarity’s on Third Avenue and 61st street in the 60s.

Like my father, Mr.Moriarty was a widower. We were regulars, on Sundays, well known by the staff, who knew us by name. We didn’t need menus. Mr. Moriarity would run the train above the bar for me – his memorial tribute to the third avenue el – We went there for supper, not dinner. We ended our meal with a shared butterscotch sundae made with Schraffts coffee ice cream and served with long iced tea spoons.

For the rest of my life I never found another restaurant that offered this combination. Mr. Moriarty came to my father’s funeral when I was nine. I remember being so surprised to see him in one of the church pews as we followed my fathers casket down the aisle, and he gave me a wink and a smile.

One January, a decade later, I ran into him in the West Palm Beach airport on my way home from Christmas break. He recognized me, even though we stopped going to his restaurant after my father died. He urged me to consider becoming a flight attendant when I graduated from college. I told him I would think about it.

I did not take his advice, but I still think about him and his restaurant when I make my own Butterscotch Sundaes a la Moriarty on Sunday nights

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