The Bent Spoon Adapts to the Pandemic

Princeton, NJ — Gabrielle Carbone and Matthew Errico opened The Bent Spoon in Palmer Square in Princeton back in 2004. Since then, the artisan ice cream shop has become nationally recognized for its locally sourced ingredients, unique flavor combinations and high-quality custard.

“Both of us grew up with families who had gardens and we were used to eating the warm tomato from the sun, that kind of thing,” Carbone said. “We were steeped in the rising culture at the time. That’s where our headspace was at: why can’t we — especially a place that’s calling itself the Garden State — use so many things?”

At the time, coming up against enormous companies with comprehensive contracts, it was incredibly difficult to get locally sourced ingredients. But it is a challenge and concept that has long been a hallmark of The Bent Spoon.

“That’s still part of what’s exciting about it for us,” Carbone said. “If we don’t have that, then what’s the point?”

When the pandemic first struck in March of 2020, Carbone’s first thought was “pivot.”

“We were able to close early on a Sunday when the writing was on the wall,” Carbone said. “The next day, Monday, we went from an all-cash, lines-out-the-door business and we turned on the computer and everything was to-go with credit cards. We never closed. That was pretty crazy.”

For Carbone, that frenzied night of restructuring the entire revenue model for the business felt very similar to the early days of The Bent Spoon.

“The first year-and-a-half to two years we were opening the store and closing the store and not having a day off,” Carbone said. “That muscle memory of entrepreneurship and making crazy decisions all the time felt very similar. That muscle memory kicked in. But the difference was there was a lot of fear around this. But we had to lead. It was important that, even if we didn’t really know what to do, that we looked at each other and were like, ‘alright, we’re going to follow what we think is right and do it with as much confidence as we can muster so our staff and customers can feel as safe as they possibly can in a place of unknowing.’”

Recognizing that this is an environment that is constantly changing, Carbone decided to keep the daily operations of the store the same for continuity and the safety of their staff. Now, The Bent Spoon operates exactly as it did throughout the pandemic: essentially as a deli counter.

“How many delis have used that method for a hundred years — there’s something about a system that works,” Carbone said. “It’s not perfect, but it certainly works. It allows us to go through hundreds of customers — on a busy Saturday, upwards of 1,000 people can come through. That’s saying a lot that we can still do those numbers and feel like people are being safer.”

With COVID remaining a threat, Carbone does not see the new shop design going away for quite a while.

“We think we’re going to be in this mode at least until the end of the year,” Carbone said. “Not to mention, most of our staff hasn’t worked t the other way. We’re a different business now. We can’t just suddenly open up the old way — it’s a whole different thing.”

Throughout the restructuring of these new systems and processes, Carbone’s main goal was to act as thoughtfully as possible with both staff and customer safety in mind.

“We want to keep everybody’s needs at the forefront. Keeping people safe, keeping our staff safe, keeping our staff happy, too,” Carbone said. “There’s a lot of negativity that we’ve heard from other businesses of customers towards staff about masks and that kind of thing. That was something we were never interested in being another element of our business. Being in service can be challenging enough — we didn’t want to ask our staff to be bouncers. The plexiglass is really helpful for that.”

Beyond the new layout, it was the shop’s dedication to local ingredients that kept The Bent Spoon in business.

“If there ever was a time to talk about supporting local agriculture, we were great because we had those relationships already. All those places kept growing things. That part was great,” Carbone said. “If we had been relying on fruit from China, we would be screwed. Now that’s just the ingredients. We use a lot of sustainable and compostable cups and straws and that, it was one thing after another — we can’t get those straws, we can’t get those lids, we can’t get those cups. You name it, it was affected.”

Despite these many challenges and roadblocks of running an ice cream shop throughout a pandemic, Carbone’s outlook for the future of The Bent Spoon is a positive one.

“Matt and I have trouble not being positive,” Carbone said. “I think it’s picking and choosing the things that work, the things that were good that came out of it. There’s definitely lessons learned. How it would look exactly, I’m not sure, but I feel good that we’re in business, we’re able to serve people, and we’ll see how it goes.”