International Delight Café, owned and operated by the delightful Toni Rollandi and her friendly staff, is a well-known eatery located on Bedford Avenue in Bellmore, offering a variety of yummy treats sure to test the limits of anyone's waistband.
On April 24 of this year, the reality TV series, "Man Vs. Food" descended upon Rollandi's establishment to film an episode of their program.
A show hosted by personality Adam Richman and dedicated to exploring "big food" offered at various locales around the United States, the episode of "Man Vs. Food" highlighting International Delight Café first aired earlier this week on The Travel Channel.
"Adam was a great guy - just an all-around, regular, great guy," Rollandi said. "They filmed on a Friday night, and once the locals caught wind of what was going on, we ended up having to lock the front door because of the crowd outside."
The show had contacted Rollandi several times previously, but not knowing what "Man Vs. Food" was, she initially turned their offers down. But once the girls that worked for her caught wind of the show's interest, they insisted Rollandi do the program; needless to say, she did. It turns out that the interest of "Man Vs. Food" had been sparked by a specific dessert on International Delight Café's menu, thinking it would make good fodder for an episode.
The dessert in question? It's a monstrous ode to decadence aptly dubbed "The World," and the very sight of it is enough to bring mere mortals screaming to their knees. The World is so intimidating that even "Man Vs. Food" host Richman, known for stepping up to amazing local food challenges, passed on trying to conquer it; something that, until now, had been unheard of.
"It used to be called 'The Kitchen Sink' before I took it up to the next level," Rollandi said of The World. "It's about two-and-a-half gallons of ice cream, toppings of your choice, whipped cream and waffles."
To date, no one has ever finished The World, something Rollandi seemed to take great pride in.
"Eight boys, all high school seniors, tried once," she said. "They had to stop and take breaks in between, and they still couldn't finish it."
Of course, the belt-bursting goodness of The World comes at a steep price: the small runs $65, and the large, $75.
The show next airs tonight at 8:30 p.m., but click here to view all upcoming air times.
