The Weekly Eater
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It wasn't supposed to happen. I'd spent a lifetime ignoring the Winter Olympics -- save for women's ice skating -- only to end up riveted to the television set from the second week on. It started with the men's aerial ski jump competitions, so gutsy and wild. How does a person even train to fly through the air that way, with the launching ramp arranged just so and just the right slope to land on? New Waikiki creamery mushes
up favorite concoctionsAs if reading my thoughts, an insurance commercial aired immediately, with Olympian Eric Bergoust's parents showing how their son started by jumping off coffee tables, then off the house roof, with mom and dad manning the mattress landing pads.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from the ice dancing and the amazing French team of Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, followed by the crash of short-track skaters resulting in Apolo Anton Ohno's heartbreaking silver medal finish, and the hold-your-breath moments as Michelle Kwan hit the ice.
And food? I was willing to devote an hour to the search, but I HAD to be home in time to catch the Olympics.
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It seemed appropriate to check out Cold Stone Creamery, which opened in Waikiki within walking distance to competitor Ghirardelli. Chilly ice cream would certainly send your body temperature plummeting, setting the mood for the games, though it's hardly the food of champions, so silky and creamy you just know there's fat lurking in every fold.Yogurt and sherbet are options, but come on, how many people have the will power to behave themselves in an ice cream shop?
I listened to someone 10 years younger than I am explain the phenomenon of taking ice cream and toppings of choice and smushing them on a cold marble stone until it turns into a creamy blob.
"Why would I want someone else mushing up my food?" I asked.
"I don't think you get it," she said.
Well, I do and I don't.
When you grow up with ice cream classics such as banana splits and ice cream sundaes -- neat scoops of plain old vanilla accompanied by bananas or hot fudge, topped with whipped cream and a cherry -- each ingredient carefully delineated, it's harder to appreciate the sort of mash that appeals to those who've grown up with Dairy Queen Blizzards and McDonald's McFlurries.
Some people like to keep their food groups separated. If I want ice cream, I get ice cream. If I want candy, I get candy.
But just as there's room for classics, there's room for innovation. Other people adapt quite well to the Cold Stone strategy, and if you can't get to Waikiki, more creameries are set to open in the Ward Entertainment Center in time for summer, and Kihei and Lahaina on Maui.
Start small, because the ice cream grows as the add-ons pile up. A small ice cream is $3.89 for 6 ounces, a regular is $4.29 for 10 ounces, and the large is $4.59 for 14 ounces, nearly a pound. It can easily feed two. The price includes one add-on. A waffle cone in your bowl counts as one. Additional ingredients are 59 cents each.
There is certainly entertainment value in watching servers as they gather up your ice cream and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Heath Bars, Oreos or whatever you want in it, rolling, crushing and pushing the mass until arriving at your very own customized, signature flavor.
It's a no-lose proposition as I can't think of a bad combination, although most people tend to think of their own combinations as boring because they're likely to be ingredients they enjoy all the time. For instance, my combo was sweet cream ice cream, brownies and macadamia nut halves. A friend went for cheesecake ice cream with strawberry syrup, while another went for ice cream alone, mixing flavors of rum, peanut butter (tasting like the real thing!) and double chocolate fudge. You might also want to try vanilla ice cream with apple pie filling and graham crackers.
There is a feeling of accomplishment in coming up with these concoctions, and if you think your flavor's good enough, you can submit it to Cold Stone Creamery's Hall of Fame. If they agree, your name and "recipe" will hang on a wall plaque for all to ogle and imitate, like a true champion.
2166 Kalakaua Ave. near Lewers (turn left onto Lewers from Kalakaua, and make another left for parking, at about $2 for two hours / 923-3866 Cold Stone Creamery
Hours: 10 a.m. to midnight daily
Food 
Service Ambience Value
Cost: About $5 per person
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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews run on Thursdays. Reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:
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