When Portuguese immigrant Antônio Morais, a peasant from Serra da Estrela, opened the doors of his grocery store in Ipanema, it had been less than 100 years since whales were caught there. In 1936, the tram still ran along Visconde de Pirajá Street. Adriano, the oldest son of Antônio and Maria, was only four years old, but he knows this story well. Initially, his father’s business was a kind of small grocery store, with shelves displaying sweets, fruits, preserves, and wines. “Along with the groceries, my dad had a small ice cream parlor. And my mom started making ice cream,” says Adriano, who now pushes the Morais popsicle cart through the streets and beaches of Leblon and Ipanema. The flavors were common, chocolate, flakes, cream, until Dona Maria decided to innovate. “One day, she woke up, I don’t know if in a good or bad mood, and said, ‘I won’t make those anymore, now it’s only fruit ice cream’.” Jabuticaba, avocado, tangerine, cashew, jackfruit, pineapple, banana, fruits that are unbeatable. The novelty pleased everyone, and the place became known as “Sorveteria das Crianças” (Children’s Ice Cream Shop). Adriano bought his father’s ice cream shop in 1955 and kept it until 1980. In Ipanema, with Bar Veloso, Posto Nove, Pasquim, the Morais family witnessed the birth of bossa nova, surfing at Arpoador, Banda de Ipanema, frescobol, and dental floss bikinis. After so many years, it’s natural that Adriano doesn’t go a day of work without meeting an old customer. “Every day, someone comes up to me and says they remember the old ice cream. And there’s always that guy who says, ‘I miss your toasted coconut popsicle so much.’ The problem is, I never made a toasted coconut popsicle!”