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He's sweet on life

Stop by Snack City and you're likely to get a big scoop of tropical ice cream and maybe a glimpse into the owner's views.

WEST TAMPA - Deep in the heart of West Tampa, Alfredo Naranjo, 70, does more than scoop his homemade ice cream.

He liberally dishes out his points of view on politics, family, Dean Martin and Tampa's needs, all with the satisfied smile of a man who has come to terms with life's mysterious ways.

Simple in appearance, Naranjo has deep creases around his eyes from laughter and thick wrinkled hands from hard work. He's the owner of Snack City on Columbus Drive, which serves traditional Latin food and ice cream.

Though the place isn't much to look at, the ice cream has been locally recognized as some of the best, particularly the tropical fruit flavors, like coconut, guanabana and mamey.

"Everybody loves my ice cream," he boasts in his native Spanish.

Naranjo makes 10-gallon batches of the cold sweet stuff daily with real fruit, sugar and fresh cream. After being in the ice cream business for 37 years, Naranjo has the recipe memorized, but still tastes everything.

"I don't even like ice cream that much anymore, except for chocolate," he says. "But I have to make sure it has the correct amount of ingredients."

His wife, Sylvia, does the final taste testing - and runs the cash register.

"I don't trust anyone else to do it," he explains.

The couple have been together for almost five decades. He met her when she was 13 in the Cuban province of Aguada de Pasajeros, where they grew up. They married when she turned 17. He was 22.

In those days, Naranjo worked as a small claims court lawyer. Although he would have liked to handle bigger cases and eventually enter politics like his father, he decided to leave the island with his family when Fidel Castro came into power.

"When Castro passed the Law of Agrarian Reform, we knew immediately it was communism," he said. "We were aware of what had happened in China."

But like many Cubans who left during that period, they had no idea it would be for good.

"Life changes not because you want it to change," he said. "It changes on its own."

So they set up shop in Elizabeth, N.J., where he obtained a $500 loan to buy an ice cream truck.

"I couldn't even boil water," he says, laughing. But when Naranjo wants to accomplish something, he makes it happen. He learned everything there is to know about ice cream and, within a few years, owned three ice cream trucks, an ice cream shop and a coin laundry.

"I'm a capitalist. The only problem is the capital hasn't come," he says, chuckling at his own punch line.

Even though he knows his business won't make him rich, he's proud of the fact that he was able to provide for his family. "I can't complain. My wife, she's the one that complains," he jokes.

Naranjo has two children, ages 47 and 43, who both live in Tampa. His son is a police detective and his daughter is the executive secretary of an international shipping company.

He considers the collapse of the family our society's main problem.

Political by nature, Naranjo makes a point of staying well-informed. He started subscribing to Newsweek more than 40 years ago and is a loyal newspaper reader.

"People don't like to discuss politics anymore," he said. "They used to, but now they are tired of talking."

If he were Tampa's mayor, he would build rent-controlled housing and safe parks and plazas for young and old people to come together like they do in Spain, he says.

He would also have frequent free municipal festivities with live music.

"Working-class people don't have the luxury to dance and have fun," he says.

Local divisions aren't just economical, but ethnic as well.

"Tampa is a mosaic of disjointed ethnicities," he explains. From his business in West Tampa, he notices the tension between ethnic groups on a daily basis and doesn't see the situation improving any time soon.

"We'd have to change the political system first," he says. "There are no Hispanic senators in Florida. And very few representatives."

When he's not talking politics, Naranjo loves to croon romantic ballads in Spanish.

Until a few months ago, he performed at the restaurant on weekends. "Alfredo sounds like Julio Iglesias," his wife says.

Naranjo is happy with his life. "The one thing I still want is to go back to Cuba and own a mansion in the Vedado."

But he refuses to return until Castro's regime ends.

Until then, he'll continue scooping the tropical flavors of his youth.

AGE: 70

CLAIM TO FAME: Owner of Snack City on Columbus Drive

FAMILY: Wife, Sylvia; son, 47, and daughter, 43.

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Chocolate

TOP VACATION SPOT: Spain

PARTY PREFERENCE: Republican

FAVORITE MOVIE: Anything with Clint Eastwood

MOST DETESTED TREND: Fat free

HOBBIES: Reading, singing

PRIZED POSSESSION: His family

PRIZED VALUE: Honesty