Behind the Glass: C.R.E.A.M.

Let’s get the basics about C.R.E.A.M. out of the way so we can get to the soft creamy center (yeah, we just went there): $1.50 ice cream sandwiches on Telegraph and Channing.

If you live on Southside you have very likely been there, if you live on Northside you have heard about it from your friends who live on Southside. However, C.R.E.A.M. does bring up a lot of questions, even if its customers are too busy to inhaling their ice cream sandwiches to ask them. Who picked the name? Who chooses the assortment of bangers/old school jams that always blast out of the speakers? What is the C.R.E.A.M. challenge?

The storefront is owned and operated by the Shamieh family, while the employees from outside of the family are all UC Berkeley students. The young guy you see in the store most of the time is Gus Shamieh, a student at USF. He tells the story of C.R.E.A.M.’s genesis as such: “My sister and I had been putting things between cookies our whole lives: candy bars, chocolate, etc,” Gus says, “but ice cream was most popular in the family.” So, when the parents found themselves jobless a few months ago, opening C.R.E.A.M. was the natural way to go.

If you ask Gus about the name, you’re not likely to get a straight answer. Although he will tell you he named it along with his father, I always had a feeling his dad was probably not a huge fan of the seminal Wu-Tang Clan Hit “C.R.E.A.M.”. However, the name was more of a family effort than you’d expect.

“My sister and I loved hip-hop, and my dad tries to be hip—you see him dancing to [the music in here],” Gus says. Ultimately, the name was chosen with the blessing of the whole family.

As for the actual music in C.R.E.A.M., Gus attributes it to a few key “secret” Pandora stations, the components of which he refuses to reveal.

C.R.E.A.M. Challenge

The natural progression from the ice cream sandwich to the triple ice cream sandwich seems to have ended in one final test of baked and ice-creamed hedonism: ten sandwiches in ten minutes. Dubbed the C.R.E.A.M. Challenge, it has yet to be successfully completed by a worthy contender. According to Gus, four TKE fraternity members have attempted it, yet none have succeeded to win the elusive prize of a t-shirt and photo on Facebook.

What’s the trick to the seemingly impossible challenge? Gus won’t say. He does advise possible challengers to choose their cookies well, and gives one mysterious piece of advice: “Chocolate chips get stuck in your mouth.” Cryptic? Yes. The key to victory? Possibly.

Check out C.R.E.A.M.’s Kick-Off Event this Friday.