How to Spot Good Gelato from 15 Feet Away

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GelatoZ
Luscious, fresh, enticing… bad gelato.

Friends traveling with me are often perplexed to see me stick my head in a gelateria’s door and instantly proclaim it good or bad, despite not having approached close enough to smell, let alone taste, the contents of the brilliant, alluring bins of swirling color. It can be done. There are visible signs of good and bad gelato, so today I am sharing my gelato-assessment method, applicable in Italy and around the world, and hopefully of service to you (especially to several specific friends who are going to Italy soon).

First I want to clarify that pretty much all gelato is delicious, even what I term “bad gelato.”  The very humblest kind of gelato is made from pre-packaged powdered mix, consisting of sugar and (usually artificial) flavors and colors, which can be mixed with milk and popped straight into the gelato machine.  The sweet, cold, creamy dessert this produces is still quite yummy, the way cheap candies or grocery store cookies are yummy despite their mundane provenance.  One is certainly happier eating this gelato than no gelato, but in an area saturated with Great Cuisine, like Florence, or Rome, or Montreal, it is seldom worthwhile to settle for the adequate when the sublime lurks around the next corner.

I also stand by my conviction that the quality of gelato is far more variable than that of ice cream, and far harder to predict from flavor options alone.  Ice cream depends on the fat of the cream to help keep it soft, and also on salt as well as sugar, giving it an inherent mix of flavors which are lend well to complex mixes of flavors (triple fudge marshmallow peanut butter banana chocolate chunk blackberry swirl) and are also very effective at concealing it if the ingredients (especially the cream itself) are of middling quality. Gelato is fundamentally just sugar and milk, or sugar and fruit in the case of a sorbetto, and the flavors are usually simple (hazelnut) or extremely simple (fior di late, pure milk).  Thus, you can taste it very easily if gelato contains poor milk, poor fruit, or artificial chemicals (many respectable places still use chemicals to help the gelato coagulate and remain the correct degree of softness in the freezer), far more easily than you can taste the same chemicals supplementing the more full-bodied base flavors of ice cream. Thus high quality gelato is (in my opinion) better than the best ice cream because it showcases its excellent ingredients better than the ice cream does, but bad/cheap gelato tends to be worse than bad/cheap ice cream because ice cream’s natural fattyness and saltiness effectively conceals poor ingredients and artificial additives. Notice also that the best grocery store gelato brands (like Talenti) wisely tend to focus on flavors which combine multiple ingredients (salted caramel, cherry and chocolate, mint chocolate) since mixed flavors more effectively conceal the softening additives which grocery store gelato needs to contain to let it last overnight.

Speaking of lasting overnight, another difference between gelato and ice cream is that ice cream keeps better. Both substances are suspensions of tiny ice crystals, which gradually clump to form larger and larger ice crystals, which is why old ice cream has lots of hard bits in it, and sometimes freezes into a solid block. But gelato forms these much faster than ice cream does, since fat and salt slow the clumping process, so gelato without additives can’t even last overnight without freezing into a block, whereas ice cream can. This means the best gelato must be made anew every day in small batches, increasing the labor and meaning anything unsold at the end of the day is a pure loss for the gelateria.  In contrast, ice cream can last several days, even a week, so ice cream places have lower labor costs and lower losses on unsold product, a key reason why ice cream parlors can be supported by much smaller communities whereas gelato places require a high population center to ensure that sales move quickly — or else they have to include additives which make the gelato taste funny.

“But I can’t have gelato, I’m vegan and/or lactose intolerant.”

In Florence, Perche no...! has an entire case of dairy-free, vegan gelati, including both amazing sorbets and soy-based creamy flavors.
In Florence, Perche no…! has an entire case of dairy-free, vegan gelati, including both amazing sorbets and soy-based creamy flavors.

I want to briefly combat this assumption.  At its heart gelato is indeed milk-based, but good gelato places also make fruit-based sorbetti, which at their best are pure fruit with sugar, and no dairy at all, while some lower quality ones are mixes of water and fruit extracts, like frozen limeade.  These are perfectly safe for vegan and lactose intolerant people, and many dairy-lovers also love, or even prefer, sorbetti to dairy flavors.  Occasionally the fruit flavors contain egg whites to help them stay solid, but this is uncommon in my experience. If this is a concern it is usually easy to find out by asking.  In addition, more and more serious gelato places have started offering a few flavors based on soy milk or almond milk, to open up gelato more to people who can’t have dairy, and to make use of new exciting flavor possibilities offered by new bases. When I attended the 2012 International Gelato Festival in Florence, I think about a quarter of the competing flavors were dairy-free, possibly more, including both exotic fruits and creamy flavors based on non-dairy milks.  And all were delicious.

Now, the test:

#1) Look at the color of the fruit flavors.  Banana, apple/pear, or berry flavors (frutti di bosco) are the easiest tell.  If the fruit gelati are made of pure, real fruit then they will be the color that fruit would be if you crushed it: berry flavors a deep dark off-black purple/red, apple white or brownish or yellowish sometimes with flecks of peel, and banana a rather unappealing shade of gray.  If, on the other hand, banana is a cheery yellow, apple a perky spring green and berry flavors are the light-ish color of blueberry yogurt, then the gelato before you is a mix of milk with food coloring plus fruit extracts or artificial fruit flavor.  Pistachio similarly should be the color of crushed nuts, not bright green.  The artificial fruit gelati can still be delicious, but only pure fruit sorbetti will give you the overwhelming flavor of top quality fruit gelato which tastes more like fruit than the fruit does, hyperconcentrating the fruit’s flavors and bringing them out with sugar.  This matters even if fruit isn’t your thing: making the gelato out of pure fruit is more laborious and expensive than using flavor extracts, so a gelateria with a brilliant dark frutti di bosco is one that is definitely trying to produce the best, and thus also likely to produce a superior chocolate, crema, etc.  Now, sometimes mixes of fruit with dairy can be good, so a blueberry-yogurt-colored frutti di bosco isn’t always a bad thing, but the pure fruit ones are more difficult and more expensive, so they are always a good sign, even if the opposite is not necessarily a bad sign.  Looking for fruit colors is generally my first test, and if a place passes that’s often enough to say “Yes!” without worrying about other elements of the test.  But if still in doubt:

 

GelatoD
Poor quality fruit gelati. In the foreground left is strawberry and the right mixed berry (frutti di bosco), both in very creamy colors betraying the presence of dairy.
GelatoH
Good berry sorbets. Bottom right blueberry, bottom middle blackberry, bottom left sour cherry, top center strawberry, to its left raspberry, left of that an intentional dairy-mixed creamy frutti di bosco.

#2) Is the gelato mounded up in huge tall piles?  Gelato is soft and fluid, and over time it will naturally flow down, like pudding.  The only way to get it to stably stay in a big tall mound is either to freeze it solid (no longer yummy), or to add chemicals that help it remain solid (which can usually be tasted since there is no salt and little fat to conceal them).  Thus big, tall, enticing mounds of gelato can be a warning sign.  The best gelato will usually not stick above the rim of the bin, unless it has just been brought out.  Many very good gelato places don’t even have an open bin, but keep the gelato in round metal containers with lids deep inside the counter.  This means you can’t see the color of the gelato, but is generally a good sign, since anywhere that doesn’t show off the visuals of its gelato is usually good enough that it knows it doesn’t have to, and cares more about protecting the gelato than about showing it off.  You do need to watch out, though, since some places that serve cheap gelato delivered by vans from warehouses receive it in flat bins with plastic wrap over the top, which is then unwrapped and served.  So while tall mounts of gelato are a bad sign, flat bins aren’t a guarantee of quality.  Metal lids pretty much always mean good quality.

GelatoE
Tall, eye-catching mounds of colorful gelato, not a good sign. The green in the middle is either pistachio or mint – either way, that’s food coloring we see.
GelatoF
Flat bins of good gelato, in a range of natural colors. Soft and served with flat paddles, not curved scoops.
Gelato1
Round metal lids protecting top quality all-natural gelato, in Rivareno (Florence).

#3) Look at the flavors of fruit offered: are there seasonal fruits?  Once again this is a sign relevant to both fruit lovers and those indifferent to fruit.  All gelato places will produce lemon, strawberry, and other popular flavors year round, but a gelato place which pays careful attention to the seasons, producing watermelon, apricot, and peach in summer, fig, apple, and pear in autumn, citrus in winter, and diverse berries in spring is another sign that the people in charge care about quality, and are therefore willing to put in extra effort to master a fleeting seasonal fruit which will only be profitable for about a month a year.  This too bodes well for the quality of all the flavors.  Similarly if you see a bright orange apricot flavor offered in December, safe money says that is a 100% artificial flavor, and many of the others probably are as well.

GelatoB
July in Florence. Perche no…! serves blackberry (nearly black), fig (green and speckly since summer figs are young and not red yet), and vivid cantelope. If I saw blackberry in January or mandarin in July, I would worry.

#4) Look at the translucency of the lemon.  A small gelato place may not have any of the more telltale fruits, but lemon is pretty much always in stock.  Is the lemon an opaque, creamy white that looks rather like the white cream-based flavors?  If so, it is milk mixed with lemon extract.  If, on the other hand, the lemon is translucent white or subtly yellowish off-white, so the edges of it are almost transparent like the transparent outer edge of an ice cube that’s in the process of melting, then it is just water and fruit extract.  This again is a bit more difficult and expensive, because it requires better lemon juice to taste good, and is harder to make stay firm, so again it means the gelato makers have put in more effort.

Gelato8
The difference with the lemon is very subtle and hard to photograph. This image may be useful: this is not lemon. The cone on the left is pear and persimmon, while the cone on the right is fior di latte and mango yogurt. Notice how the fruits, on the left, are a little bit more translucent, while the dairy flavors on the right have a milk opacity all the way to their melty edges. Persimmon and mango are both vivid colors naturally, so vivid here, while the pear is subtle and almost white.
GelatoG
The pistachio on the right here is clearly very artificial. The lemon on the left, though, is translucent, and you can see where it’s melting at the bottom of hte bin that it is becoming clear, rather than milky, when liquid. This place (in Venice, where fresh ingredients are extra expensive) is using artificial flavors and additives, but still doing its best to make a passable lemon sorbet.

#5) Do they offer fior di latte, or fior di panna?  These flavors, made from pure milk and pure cream respectively, are the basic form of gelato.  It means they are the flavors that most clearly expose the quality of the milk, and most clearly betray the presence of artificial additives.  In Italy, virtually all gelato places will offer fior di latte, and any one that doesn’t is conspicuous.  Abroad, especially in the US, it is much more rare, because it exposes inferior ingredients, and few non-Italians know what this flavor is (Americans, for example, always ask for vanilla instead, because we’re not used to the idea that the pure white version of a frozen desert could be so good as to require no flavor, not even vanilla).  If a non-Italian gelato place offers fior di latte, it’s often a good sign.  If an Italian one offers fior di panna, that is a sign that they have put in extra serious effort into maximizing the flavor of their dairy (and cream is more expensive than milk) so also good.  But if they only offer fior di latte with chocolate chips, or with flavored syrup drizzled all over it, they could be showing off their syrups, or they could be covering inferior milk.

GelatoA
Center: fior di latte gelato drowned in flavored syrup. The syrups all over these (and the vivid color of the mint in the top left) are warning signs of lower basic quality underneath the sugary drizzle.

#6) Do they offer hazelnut (nocciola)?  This flavor is, gram for gram, usually the most expensive to produce, and to make genuinely powerful.  For that reason, many gelato places save funds by offering chocolate-hazelnut flavors, bacio or Nutella, but not pure hazelnut.  Others compensate with artificial or weak hazelnut.

Gelato13
An interesting case of what is obviously middle-quality gelato. To the left, “pear and Nutella” has used the supplemental flavors of chocolate and hazelnut to boost a pear which is obviously dairy-based. To the right, the vivid green flavor of the fig shows there are artificial colors but there are also flecks of peel, so this is real fig bolstered with additives. Not the best gelato, but far from the worst, and doing the best with what they have.

#7) Still in doubt?  Now you’re ready to ask to taste something to see if the place is good, but what?  Usually you’re going to order two or more flavors, so asking to taste them all in advance is often a bit much.  Traditionally people recommend tasting the hazelnut, since if it has a powerful, good flavor it means they are sparing no expense.  Tasting fior di latte can also work well, since it is the core of all the other cream-based flavors, so if it is strong and pure the rest will be. Another good choice can be to taste a fruit to see if it’s good quality, or anything unusual or subtle, like basil.

Gelato14What do I do if the gelato place is “bad” but it’s the only one around and I want a gelato?

Despair not!  You can still have a delicious experience at a mediocre gelato place, you just need to choose your flavors appropriately.  Usually if a gelato place is mediocre, it is working with inferior milk, and may have to put additives in the gelato to make it stay soft overnight because they can’t afford to make a new batch every day.  These problems can be tasted easily in pure, simple flavors like fior di latte or the fruit sorbets, but you can choose flavors that conceal them, and thus still have a good experience.  Chocolate is a reliable fallback in almost all circumstances.  Another thing to look out for in mediocre gelato places is a complicated flavor mixing two or more flavors, like tiramisu.  A place local to me here has very disappointing sorbets, but respectable chocolate, tiramisu, and pistachio, and remarkably good creative original flavors like root beer or “Elvis” (chocolate, banana, peanut butter) which are well balanced and conceal the mediocre undertones nicely.  Lemon is also a good fallback.  Whenever I have a rough travel day in Italy, I go to the train station gelato place and get a nice cold lemon, and even the terrible gelato they have in a train station is still miraculously curative after a rough day.

For more on gelato, see also my earlier post: Relax: have a gelato.

My next gelato-related project is to assemble an International Gelato Atlas listing gelato places around the world, to help everyone who has worked up an appetite find good gelato wherever you travel.  So far it has lots of listings for the USA and Italy but a few for a whole lot of other countries too.  If you know of a good gelato place, please post about it in the comments here, and I will add it to the list.  Please specify (A) location, (B) how much of the above test it passes, (C) if its gelato is all natural, (D) recommended flavors, (C) other attributes you consider worth mentioning, and (D) website if there is one.  Hopefully together we can make a world wide gelato map capable of combating the symptoms of dreaded gelato withdrawal no matter where we roam!

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107 Responses to “How to Spot Good Gelato from 15 Feet Away”

  1. Mris said:

    Cow Bella in St. Paul, MN, is very seasonal, has appropriately-colored gelatos, and flat metal lids, just off the top of my head. I haven’t tried the lemon (and it’s not on display, so I can’t look), but the pistachio is so amazingly good that I have been known to decline chocolate and caramel (both of which are incredibly Mrissish flavors) in order to have pistachio. And fig! You have explained why there was fig when I was there last fall and not when I was there early this summer, so now I will go back hoping for more fig. http://www.cowbellagelato.com/

  2. Jo Walton said:

    I prefer calling it “train station gelato” to “bad gelato”. “Bad” sounds like a value judgement. Or as if you’re not going to eat it anyway.

  3. Patrick said:

    When I lived in Roma, I had 2 favorite gelato places, primarily because I was a poor young adult that couldn’t afford the top-notch places. One was “Old Bridge” right off of Piazza Risorgamento, and the other was “Giovanni Fassi” in the Esquilino neighborhood (right down the street from my apartment.) Given the number of natives in both places, they seemed pretty good.

  4. Tara said:

    Capogiro in Philadelphia is my go-to place for gelato. Fantastic quality and unusual flavors. They use seasonal and local ingredients.The flavors change frequently, though there are some constants, like bitter chocolate and stracciatella. You can even get it shipped though I haven’t tried that. There’s three locations in Philadelphia if I recall correctly. Most of my trips to Philly usually end up with me popping by Capogiro.

    http://www.capogirogelato.com/

  5. Alberto said:

    Vero, in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, is owned by a italian guy and is awesome. Its pistachio is just like you said, with a bronzeish, pale green, and the guy is always inventing new flavors. I once had a caipirinha ice cream! And in Rome I´ve discovered by accident a fenomenal one, I Caruso, that later was considered the best in town, see http://www.revealedrome.com/2011/06/i-caruso-best-gelato-in-rome-food-secret-gelateria.html

  6. Beer & Skittles said:

    Check out Gelatiamo in Seattle. It’s some of the best gelato outside of Italy that I’ve had!

    • Vicki said:

      Thanks for the recommendation. I went in there today, and had pear and blackberry. Both were good. (I’ve come to expect good blackberry, after living in the Pacific Northwest for less than a year, but pear is one of the tricky flavors.)

  7. Justin said:

    I wasn’t aware of these techniques for judging good gelato the last time I was there, so I don’t know how well it would stand up, but some the best gelato I’ve ever had (by flavor) was at the Gelato Bar at 1936 Hillhurst Ave in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.

    I recall the woman behind the counter talking about how her husband studied how to make good gelato in Italy, and about how much time and effort goes into concentrating the flavors.

    I had an unbelievable pear and a fantastic Greek yogurt/honey; the tartness of the Greek yogurt complimented the sweetness of the pear nicely. A friend of mine was in love with their grapefruit sorbetto on that same trip.

  8. Marlene said:

    Please check out Gorgeous Gelato in Portland, ME! Your article includes a lot of subtleties I never realized until now, but my own personal “gelato test” has always been NOCCIOLA, and Gorgeous Gelato’s is some of the best I’ve ever had. In fact it’s hard for me to try other flavors there, because I love their nocciola so much! Owners are from Milan and I believe their product would meet many, if not all, of your criteria for excellence.

  9. Gianluca Rattazzi said:

    If you like chocolate, only Venchi is acceptable.
    They have different % of chocolate (e.g. 75%).
    Additionally, they make it with milk or with water.
    As you can expect, they taste very different.
    Finally, they make it with different chocolates (blended) or from a single cocoa bean.
    In Rome they are in via della Croce (next to Spanish steps).
    In my opinion, nothing else is even close.

    • Bhavesh said:

      I totally agree. Venchi is the best of all the dozen plus gelato we tried across Europe

  10. RTM said:

    Try Dolche Amore in Vancouver, BC. It’s on Commercial Drive (the old Italian, working-class sector of the city), and although new, it’s quite good!

  11. Meg said:

    Gelato Fiasco, Brunswick, Maine.

    Seasonal flavors, proper colors, flat bins, no decorative syrup. I have no idea about the lemon because I was so overwhelmed by the cranberry and allspice flavors that I felt no need to order more.

  12. Susan said:

    You should try Morano Gelato in Hanover, NH if you find yourself anywhere near Dartmouth College. Forbes Magazine wrote it up as the best gelato in the country. The founder spent 6 years making gelato in Florence. I’ll try some of the other places in these comments, but Morano Gelato passes all of the tests in this article with flying colors and then some!

  13. kyle said:

    Alotto Gelato in Portland , OR, they started at a farmer’s market, use local produce and come closest to the magic that emptied my pockets in Spain.

  14. Brian said:

    The speckles of real vanilla bean in the vanilla is also a good, though not sufficient, sign. When I lived in Testaccio, the old butcher’s quarter of Rome, the neighbourhood boasted (still does) one of the best Pizza joints in the entire city, Remo’s, and a very fine gelateria just across the way, now gone. That was one fine piazza.

  15. Christine said:

    I agree with Beer & Skittles…Gelatiamo in Seattle is divine! Owner is from Italy and learned from the best!

  16. Robert Berger said:

    Dolche Spazio Gelato 221 North Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos is quite good. We go there regularly! http://www.dolcespazio.com/

  17. Mike said:

    I live in a gelato desert as far as I know. I’ve never seen gelato in China. Gotta go to Hong Kong if I want some, and even then I’d be lucky to find the inferior kind. Damn you geloto-less China, damn you!

  18. Rachel said:

    Let me start by saying I’m obsessed with gelato. Last year I spent two weeks in Florence, and although it was winter I found two shops that exceeded the rest:
    Gelateria dei Neri, Florence. They won best dark chocolate of the year, but you must try their profiterole semmifreddo.

    Il Re Gelato, Florence. The owner is a master of Sicilian dessert, and everything in his shop is delicious. His sicilian gelato is not only healthier than most gelato, his fruit flavors are made with the highest quality and freshness that one’s tongue cannot refuse! Also, his presentation was beautiful and by far the prettiest gelato I’ve seen.

    Morano Gelato of Hanover, NH is the best gelato outside of Italy. I have had both Grom and Amorino Gelato in NYC, although both have good gelato, Morano Gelato is better. Forbes magazine acclaimed Morano to be the best gelato outside of Italy, and I agree. The gelato is made onsite daily, flavors change every day, and the flavors are also seasonal. Morano Gelato uses local dairy, fruit, and berries. The fruit is picked fresh and in the gelato the next day. Also, they source out of Italy for the finest chocolate, and nuts. Their Pistacchio is made only from Sicilian pistachios, because they are known to be the best in the world. That goes for the Nocciola, too, they only use hazelnuts from the Piedmont region because they are known to be the highest quality. Morano Gelato is the best!

  19. Dan said:

    Thanks for your article! Especially for your last paragraph, which is v helpful. I’ve had to make radical changes to my diet for health reasons over the last couple of years, and many foods have been labelled “contraband”. I still eat them from time to time but have adopted a sort of “smaller amount, but better quality” rule. Problem with that is you can find yourself edging further and further towards food puritanism, and losing a lot of fun along the way!

  20. Paul said:

    Capo Giro in Philadelphia – best ever outside of Italy. Lancaster County milk, spectacular flavors, and the most serious dark chocolate you will ever see

  21. fancycwabs said:

    Good points all (although I might disagree with the practice of measuring gelato against sorbetto), but the biggest problem I have with gelati is when it’s been sitting around and develops a grainy consistency, which is hard to determine visually.

  22. desmond said:

    If you’re in Toronto I recommend Capitano’s on Yonge st. All their Gelato passes the test and is made in house.

    They also make great burgers oddly enough.

  23. Aliza said:

    I haven’t checked whether their gelato passes your tests, but as someone who adores gelato, I can say that (a) these two places make taste buds do a happy dance and break out in song, and (b) are long-adored favourites in the city, far and away more popular than other locations.

    In Ottawa: I was a long-time fan of Piccolo Grande (http://www.piccologrande.ca/), in the Byward Market. Their gelato compared well to the best of what I enjoyed in Italy. And then came Stella Luna, in Old Ottawa South (on Bank Street) a year ago– even better than Piccolo Grande. Delicious fresh-tasting strong pure flavours, great texture. Stella Luna (http://www.slgelato.com/) also has good coffee and sandwiches.

  24. Ann Mulhern said:

    Frost Gelato, Tucson, Phoenix, and soon to open in Albuquerque. Truly amazing quality and the original cook-Nazario has created flavor unparalled. Salted Caramel and Pistachio are exquisite. I have never had a bad flavor and have probably tried them all.
    Perfect consistency-always.

  25. Karyn said:

    This is a fascinating and thorough article! Thank you! I have recently moved away from a favorite gelato maker of mine, Madisano’s in Cincinnati.
    http://madisonosgelato.blogspot.com/

  26. Hailey said:

    Pitango in the DC metro area is the best! They pass the presentation test (stored under round metal lids, not piled up) and offer Crema (I would assume this is the equivalant of fior di panna) and Nocciola, as well as a variety of seasonal flavors.The gelato is creamy and soft just as it should be. It is definitely the closest you can get to the gelato in Italy, and hands-down the best gelato in D.C.

  27. Ex Urbe said:

    Many thanks, everyone, for the many suggestions. I will compile them next chance I get.

    I had not heard of Pitango but it does sound good. Good crema is a great sign, though crema is not, in fact, equivalent to fior di panna. Crema is custard flavor, based on the kind of sweet yellow egg-based custard you get as a filling in pasteries. By adding the egg custard element, crema becomes something closer to what is called French Vanilla in the US, and it can conceal inferior quality milk the same way vanilla does in ice cream. Crema is one of the most staple gelato flavors, and between them crema and fior di panna occupy the position in the gelato world that vanilla does in the ice cream world. Every good gelato place has a reliable and rich crema, and some show off by having special varieties of crema with subtle addatives like citrus extract, roasted pine nuts, basil or liqeur. It is a reliable flavor, often good even at mediocre places and delightful at good ones, but becuase it is an easier flavor to ahcieve, crema is not as sure a test of a gelateria’s quality as fior di panna.

  28. Rowena WOELFLE said:

    Best gelato in the USA is at Frost a gelato shoppe in Gilbert Az

  29. Katrina said:

    La Divina makes gelato and sorbetto from scratch in New Orleans, LA. Grass fed milk and seasonal, local ingredients. Signature flavors include creme brulee, bourbon pecan, chocolate azteca.

  30. Beth said:

    London is a bit of an ice cream desert (anywhere someone offers you “an ice cream” and can be expected to mean (a) soft serve or (b) a popsicle needs help). But gelato has started to become more popular in the last couple of years. I commend La Gelateria to you http://www.lagelatiera.co.uk/

  31. Bong said:

    Pitango in DC is great, though incredibly expensive. I think their smallest size will cost you in excess of $5. Also, their crema flavor refers to espresso crema, and it is delightful. Dolcezza is another place worth trying.

  32. Maliboo said:

    Pazzo Gelato in Sliver Lake, CA (Los Angeles). Amazing job with the fruit sorbettos, always keeps it seasonal. Strawberry sorbet with chocolate chunks, chocolate hazelnut gelato, pear sorbet.

  33. Maliboo said:

    Oh – http://pazzogelato.net/

  34. Yvonne said:

    The bar opposite the train station in Chiusi (SI) has the most astounding nut gelati: pure Hazel nut or Almond but also the ‘Lars Porsenna’ (named after the first Etruscan king of Roma). Unrivalled for the quality of ingredients. Drop in there whilst changing trains from Siena to Rome.
    Bar Cavallino Bianco, Piazza Dante 12, 53043 Chiusi, Siena

  35. Paulina said:

    You can find ice crem produced of natural ingredients in Krakow in Poland; the address is:

    Pracownia Cukiernicza Stanisław Sarga
    ul. Starowiślna 83
    31-052 Kraków
    They have no website unfortunately

    The forest berry flavor is amazing, but any option you choose is worth of trying and they are served from containers covered by metal leads, isn’t it a proof of quality in most cases? 😀

  36. chuck savage said:

    Pitango has it all but he flavors are weak at best.

  37. Evelyn said:

    Gelateria Naia in Berkeley and North Beach, San Francisco (and in freezer cases all over the Bay Area, mostly in Whole Foods). All natural, high-quality gelato, including an impressive range of sorbetti and soy-based concoctions.

    Low, flat-packed product in metal tins with flat lids. Cheerful decor in oranges and yellows and little cycling caps on the scoopers. Cash only; have they never heard of Square?

    Good seasonal flavors and an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients: chocolate from Tcho, tea from Numi, coffee beans from Blue Bottle. An interesting selection of ever-changing innovative flavors: rose, Earl Grey, jasmine, marzipan, ACE (energy drinks from Europe), and the “savory” line, which, last time I was there, was comprised solely of black sesame and saffron, but which the scooper told me was going to be expanded. But then I moved, so who knows.

    They’ve expanded into gelato bars; I don’t quite know how that works, because they’re much harder than the ideal consistency of gelato, but the flavors are quite tempting and they seem popular in the Bay Area for parties and events.

    But the best part is the cute little trinkets–a demitasse of espresso beans, a parrot for Madagascar vanilla, a silk flower for rose–that decorate most of the flavors (the ones that aren’t just fruit, which have, duh, a fruit on them) to help you decide and remember what you want!

    http://gelaterianaia.com/
    http://www.bargelato.com/

  38. Matt said:

    There is a great place in Santa Fe, New Mexico called Ecco Gelato. They pass almost all the tests (nocciolla is sometimes seem, but they always have chocolate hazelnut). They use locla milk, and no premixes as I know it. On par with good Italian Gelaterias.

  39. Lila said:

    I’ve had Pitango when in D.C. and it fascinates me, because it passes all the tests which should indicate good gelato, and yet it isn’t. I don’t know what they’re doing wrong. The colors are right, the storage is right, but it’s as though someone took a knob marked ‘flavor’ and turned it way, way down. It’s the correct flavors, just not enough of them. And yet, how do you get the right flavors in that mild a way without adding ingredients which ought to produce a different flavor? Extremely confusing experience.

    As is generally the case with mediocre gelato, the chocolate and coffee flavors are perfectly acceptable.

    For people using this thread as a reference: as both Ex Urbe and I have found from experience, the best gelato in D.C. is, weirdly enough, in the cafe in the basement between the two wings of the National Gallery of Art, the one right next to the interior waterfall. Try the apple.

  40. Eric C said:

    The two best gelato places I know of in the US are Black Dog gelato in Chicago (blackdogchicago.com) and Dolcetti Gelato (dolcettigelato.com) in Salt Lake City. Both are excellent, all natural, in-season fruit kind of places. Black Dog has a supremely talented executive chef who pushes our more exotic flavors, while I believe the family at Dolcetti apprenticed in Italy for a time.

  41. Suzanne Schaffner said:

    I own a Gelateria in Escondido called EscoGelato http://www.escogelato.com . We make all our gelato fresh daily and use local products whenever they are in season. In addition to classics like pistachio, hazelnut, and stracciatella we offer flavors like almond fig, sour cream brown sugar and apricot goat cheese. We don’t use any flavor compounds and all of our flavors come from “real food”. Thank you for sharing this article…great stuff.

  42. gelato said:

    When in Trieste, go to Zampolli.
    https://secure.flickr.com/photos/lowlightimages/6102034177/

  43. Jo Walton said:

    Montreal: I thought you had it, but the excellent gelato place we found near Laurier metro with the bay, rhubarb, salted caramel, and litchi and rose, is called Fous Desserts. http://www.fousdesserts.com/acceuil.html

  44. David said:

    I enjoy your article greatly, because it is so rare to read something about gelato that is not just fluff. Yes, even in Italy it is not easy to find the good gelateria, but the difference is that somehow the Italians seems to know and all you have to do is ask, and they are so happy and proud to send you to the right place.
    In Washington DC where I live, there is one outstanding gelateria; Pitango Gelato, with two locations in town. they use all organic ingredient no flavoring or chemicals, and all their fruit sorbeti are made with fresh fruits. I think they are by far the best gelato in town, Yet, I find myself arguing with my friends that tell me that because pitango “hide” their gelato in covered bins, they would prefer to go to one of the places where they can “see what they eat”. Your article gave me the right explanation. Thanks!

  45. Colleen Stryken said:

    I am the proud owner of two stores, Palmer &Wasilla Ak! We get our base fresh from a dairy farm here in Alaska! We use fresh fruits when we can and always try to be creative with our gelato ! Thanks for promoting Gelato! The business names are Palmer Downtown Deli and Cafe Kudrino! Thanks again

  46. Anne Marie said:

    I like Killer E.S.P. (Espresso Sorbetto & Pie) in Old Town Alexandria just outside of DC. They switch up their flavors a lot and I always find something I love. I always get psyched when I see they have some pear or melon in the case.

  47. Steve Halter said:

    My wife and I stopped at Eataly in Chicago at 43 East Ohio Street a couple of weeks ago. Their gelato was quite good. I had the hazelnut (rich hazelnut flavor) and my wife the chocolate mint. A very good sign was that the mint was white rather than dyed green. The gelato was stored in the covered bins as in your picture from Rivareno above.
    Their sign stated that it was produced daily in small batches.

  48. exurbe said:

    Ah, excellent, thank you. I had heard rumors of a branch of Eataly in Chicago. The other branches of Eataly I have tried have had quite reasonable, if not outstanding, gelato. I will have to try it soon myself.

    I’m also glad to see that I finally fixed the bug which had made it briefly impossible to comment on this thread. Let the gelato recommendations recommence!

  49. Maria said:

    If your travels ever bring you to Greece, do try out the gelato at Le Greche, in Athens. Possibly the best gelateria here. If memory serves me well, they should pass all of your tests!

    http://legreche.gr/
    Do check out also their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/legreche

  50. HOT: Top 10 Best icecream and gelato in Melbourne - TOT: HOT OR NOT — TOT: HOT OR NOT said:

    […] creamy and clean-tasting hazelnut hidden inside the stainless steel Italian-built pozzetti fridge. According to this article you can always judge the quality of a gelateria by their hazelnut gelato, which is gram for gram […]

  51. Joyce Watts said:

    Gelateria Primavera and Pidapipo in Melbourne, Australia. The only two gelaterias I know of that store their gelato in pozzetti (and fulfil the other criteria you’ve listed). The gelato is made by Italians, of course 🙂

  52. HOT: Pidapipo, 299 Lygon Street, Carlton - TOT: HOT OR NOT — TOT: HOT OR NOT said:

    […] According to this fascinating article, you can generally judge the quality of gelati from 15 feet, without actually smelling, touching or tasting the product. You just need to look for a couple of things: […]

  53. Andrea said:

    Bulgarini Gelato in Altadena (LA suburbs), California. The guy’s Italian, and carries back his own pistachios from trips home because he can’t get good ones in the US. Dairy is local, and so is fruit when possible (and all the fruit is fresh). Every flavor I’ve tried is outstanding. I moved away from LA years ago and still dream about the plum-cognac flavor.

  54. MEL: HOT OR NOT | HOT: Top 10 Best icecream and gelato in Melbourne - MEL: HOT OR NOT said:

    […] creamy and clean-tasting hazelnut hidden inside the stainless steel Italian-built pozzetti fridge. According to this article you can always judge the quality of a gelateria by their hazelnut gelato, which is gram for gram […]

  55. A (Gelato) Tree Grows in Brooklyn – L’Albero dei Gelati | girleatsgotham said:

    […] Everything that could ever be wrong with gelato. Psychedelic colors and a mile high. Credit: https://www.exurbe.com/?p=23921. […]

  56. ROME, Italy | Living and Traveling with Kids said:

    […] Every day.  All day.  And, though eating any gelato is better than eating none, here are some tips on picking out a good gelato, in Italy or […]

  57. Timprov said:

    This is not a recommendation, merely data. We were unfortunate enough to stop at Va Bene in Duluth, MN last week, Duluth not being very long on desserts, and I believe it’s the first gelateria I’ve been to which failed every single one of your rules. I successfully bailed out after a minor adventure with a tasting spoon. Mris sadly felt obligated to buy something since we had stopped. We agreed afterward that we should have gone to Culver’s.

  58. Favorite Gelato in Florence said:

    […] How to Spot Good Gelato from 15 Feet Away An Insiders Guide to Gelato Choosing the Best Artisan Gelato Conde Nast Traveller | Artisanal Gelato: How to Spot the Fakes […]

  59. Amanda said:

    Not a Gelato place but if people in the Prince William/Fairfax area of VA want gelato, Mom’s Apple Pie Shop in Occoquan, VA is a Local Community store that supports local artisans and imports their gelato from a local creamery. It’s best if you get it on delivery day and I’m sorry to say I don’t recall what day that is anymore, but even when it’s been frozen a few days the flavor is excellent.

  60. Jo said:

    I went to the Naia in North Beach, San Francisco — it was excellent, the rose, fior de latte and lemon curd were stunning, and the bosc pear suffered only from being grainy. I tasted lots of things, and they were all good — a lovely honeydew melon. The guy was absolutely enthusiastic about my desire to taste things and indeed kept suggesting more things for me to taste and combinations that might work. They struck me as Venchi level good. Weirdly, on their website they have piled up gelato, but they didn’t, it was all great. On the “bar gelato” they sell, he said it isn’t as good, but it’s better than nothing. All their in-store gelato is made fresh in one location every day and taken to their three stores.

    I also went to Gelato Classico, on Union nearby in North Beach, where I had a perfectly nice raspberry with a pretty good caramel. Naia was better, but if I’d walked all that way and only managed to find Gelato Classico I wouldn’t have felt the walk was wasted.

  61. Italiensk glass – Eller vad gör du när du står på ett café | #TalaOmTe said:

    […] bloggen handlar ju om te, och glass är inte mer te än vad rooibos är. Men jag hittade följande inlägg som handlar om hur du på avstånd kan upptäcka om italiensk glass är bra eller […]

  62. On How to Enjoy Florence | Sticky Notes of Thoughts said:

    […] There are hints to finding good gelato places: avoid places that has gelato in tall mounds (esp. of vivid colors topped by fruits that represent the flavor). Find details here. […]

  63. A Venice Bucket List | Living For The Now said:

    […] You often see gelato advertised next to bright mountains of ice cream. That isn’t real gelato. Real gelato is made from natural ingredients and isn’t as fluorescent. It’s also not pumped full of air. Ensure the gelato you buy is not a pile of bright pinkness! You can see some tips for finding real gelato here. […]

  64. Matt Harmon said:

    Thank you many times over for this guide! I found this post via Tyler Cowen over at MarginalRevolution.com. I will be in Florence in May 2016, and I plan on ingesting gelato nightly.
    P.S. – Your books look interesting. They were instant adds to my Amazon wish list.

  65. Phil Koop said:

    Grazie mille for your wonderful Atlas of gelato! I will be in Rome in a couple weeks and expect to profit greatly by it (almost as much as from your saint-spotting guide.) Then it’s on to Sardinia, where perhaps I’ll be able to scout out a few new places.

    I am somewhat shocked to see that Bobboi Natural Gelato in La Jolla (http://bobboi.com/) is not yet mentioned. As the name suggests, it is an organic/natural place. The gelato is properly stored in covered bins. The nut creams and the fruit sorbets are both of surpassing excellence. The salted caramel is weaponized pleasure stimulation. Nor can you go wrong with any of the chocolate creams or sorbets. There was no fior di latte – it doesn’t suit the American taste – but I’m confident that if there had been, it would have been superb too. Worth a detour, if you are in San Diego.

  66. Marissa Lingen (@MarissaLingen) said:

    I have returned from Finland with a Finnish gelato report!

    Turku: not at the gelateria listed if you search for “gelato Turku.” That is basically an ice cream place. What you want is Cafe Harmonia on Brahegatan, a block or two up from the river. The apricot would make you weep. Other flavors looked promising also but I am a small eater and we were there limited time. This place also has lovely salads and pita and cakes and a place for children to play.

    Vaasa: Pizzeria Marco Polo. Appears to be run by a family from Naples. As we were there in May, what we had was strawberry and blueberry, utterly fresh. The strawberry was lovely, but the blueberry was beyond excellent, that little gritty peel feel and flavor, the complete opposite of artificial blueberry. Pizzas also really fabulous.

  67. Phil Koop said:

    Perhaps worth a mention: Don Nino, on the Via dei Pastini just east of the Pantheon. Do not confuse it with the place selling fluorescent mounds of crushed dreams next door! It is amazing that the two establishments can both thrive in such close proximity, but Italy contains many contradictions.

    Despite the hokey name, this place is entirely acceptable, pretty much what I think of as a standard, high-quality, small Italian gelateria. I did not actually try any of the ices, but the nocciola was very intense, with the slightly gritty texture that indicates ground hazelnuts mixed in. It was an especially marked contrast to the frankly inferior stuff served to me by Venchi the day before. Don’t get me wrong, it’s no Giolitti, and if I had time on my hands I would aim for one of the more exalted establishments. But if you are just ducking into the Pantheon and want a quick gelato without braving the queue at Giolitti, it’s just the ticket.

    I am sorry to report that I failed in my Sardinia mission. Please note: I am not claiming that there is no gelato of surpassing excellence in all of Sardinia, merely that I happened not to stumble across any during nine days of cycling around the island.

  68. Fazal Majid said:

    There is an Amorino in “the Village at Corte Madera” shopping center in Corte Madera, Marin County, California (San Francisco Bay Area).

  69. Roaming Rome – pujasabn said:

    […] Gelato – there’s gelato just about on every corner. They all end up being yum, but to find the OMG, we are still in search for it. Things to look for– an Italian selling it. And, not too vivid of colors in the Gelato (pistachio should look like crushed pistachios, not like a few drops of food coloring fell into it). As well, it seems that because of the cream factor in the gelato, it doesn’t stand up well (as in literally, it so melty that it wouldn’t stand if piled up on top of itself) so don’t go for the fancy places where you can see the gelato from the window. Instead, it should be in a metal container with a flat spoon and possibly a metal cover to protect the gelato from further melting. (This was taken from “How to spot good Gelato from 15 feet away“) […]

  70. Thomas Lumley said:

    New Zealand: Auckland: Giapo. 279 Queen St, near Wellesley St.

    Gianpaolo Grazioli makes expensive, baroquely overdecorated gelato that is so worth it. Also has sorbet and ice cream.

  71. Marissa Lingen said:

    Iorio’s Gelateria in Ann Arbor, MI, dyes their rose gelato pink, but when I was there did not dye their fruit flavors, which were lovely. A few weirdo flavors for those who like that sort of thing, a bunch of really solid flavors for those who love the basics.

  72. David said:

    I see from your list of gelateria’s across the globe that you haven’t yet made it to Argentina. I realize this may be somewhat incendiary a comment, but I think they took the Italian technique and married that to better ingredients (Argentinian pampas-raised beef is famous for flavor, and that quality is also seen in the milk). I had far better gelati there than anywhere in Italy, though I don’t think I’ve tried any on your Italian list, to be fair….

    • Jo said:

      Thrilled to hear that gelato in Argentina is great!

      If you want to recommend some specific gelaterias in Argentina we’d be delighted to add them to the atlas — the goal is to help people find great gelato wherever they find themselves.

  73. Mary Stanley said:

    I have a good gelateria in Brownwood texas 76801 The Turtle Gelateria 514 Center Ave, Brownwood, TX. Please add me to your atlas.

  74. ironymaiden said:

    D’Ambrosio Gelato in Seattle. https://www.dambrosiogelato.com/
    they have pistachio

  75. Gregory Sokoloff said:

    Please add Gelateria del Monte near the Vatican in Rome. Massimiliano Del Monte founded it by inveigling a well-known but retired maestro of the craft to give him his recipes and thus resurrect in spirit one of Rome’s more beloved gelateria (whose exact identity, alas, remains a secret). At least that’s the rather florid story I translated for him on his website. I can attest from arduous personal consumption that the product is indeed heavenly, and gets high praise from visitors. Most importantly, I have a picture of myself behind the counter scooping as if I were the very proprietor himself.

  76. William Boyd said:

    We are fortunate to live less than one mile from Basilico. Billing itself as a New York-style deli (that I’ll not judge), Basilico offers most days up to 12 gelati. My favorite happens to be nocciola and theirs compared quite favorably with the gelati I enjoyed in Trieste at Marco’s and at Natural Ice Cream (sic). Basilico’s makes their gelati on premises and on a daily basis with the kitchen turning out more gelati as the tubs run empty. The nocciola’s demonstrates high consistency in terms of the flavor, the density, and the texture (another outfit in DC sells what they bill as Argentine gelato; the texture to my tongue is grainy), which as the expression has it, is smooth as silk.

  77. William Boyd said:

    Update on Basilico: Re-reading your recommendation about, call it, all-good-gelati-begins-with-fior-de-latte, during today’s gelato run, I inquired of my favorite server, Giosefina, if she knew “milk gelato.” Smiling, she thought, then said, “Ah, fior de latte.” I asked if they ever served it. Saddened a bit, she said no, then adding that most people are not familiar with it and therefore with virtually no market they cannot afford to add it to their gelato menu. So, I ordered my usual nocciola, while hoping the word about fior de latte would begin to spread.

  78. Stephen said:

    I can hardly believe that Antica Gelateria di Roma [3 Pharmakopoulou and, Michail Komninou, Nafplio 211 00] is not on the list for Nafplio. You can easily get it to it from the central part of the city. It may be the best gelato I’ve tasted outside of Italy. The owners of the shop themselves are Italian transplants, so they know their stuff. I personally only tried the dark chocolate, but according to friends it seems that you can’t go wrong with the other flavors as well.

    • Jo said:

      I’ve added it — this atlas is places we’ve been, or that people tell us about, like you just told us about this one, thank you. I haven’t been in Nafplion since 1981, so it’s not all that surprising that it isn’t listed really! Delighted to hear there is good gelato there now.

  79. Jeff Rose said:

    I’m just returning from vacation in Italy and I wanted to thank you for your very useful guide to good gelato and contribute a few additions to the atlas.

    Unsurprisingly, I had a lot of gelato on the trip but the standouts were:

    Gelataria Savoia, Via Roma 1/b in Verona.

    Gelataria La Romana. We went to the one in Ferara but this appears to be a chain with branches eslewhere in Italy.

    And best of all:

    La Vecchia Latteria, Via S. Pietro 10, Siena.

    • Jo Walton said:

      Thank you, those are very useful. I’ve added them, and hope to try La Vecchia Lateria for myself when I go to Siena in June.

  80. Ice cream is my fruit: The 5 best gelato in and around Milan (and some extra tips) – Notes from Gertaly said:

    […] So, avoid mountains. Search for metal bins. And the cheapest option shouldn’t cost more than 2.50 EUR. It’s gelato, after all. That’s joy for the masses, not pleasure for the upper 10,000. […]

  81. Amanda B said:

    This is an excellent guide for choosing gelato, which is also a passion of mine! I heartily agree with your suggestions, and appreciate the detail. I can’t wait to share it with friends who are new to gelato. I’d like to suggest a gelateria in Paris for your international gelato guide: Pozzetto, at 39 Rue du Roi de Sicile in Paris. It is, to my taste, the very best gelato in Paris, and it produces objectively high quality gelato. It meets all the right criteria – the short list of flavors every day always includes a dull greenish brown pistacchio, and a truly heavenly, must-take-a-moment-to-savor-with-closed-eyes fior di latte. Everything is the right color, which you find out only when they open the metal lids to give you a taste or scoop out your choices. The texture is perfect. They have a walk-up window to sell to passers-by on the sidewalk, and an interior salon. Blessedly, they are open late. A small cone is, as of May 2018, 4 Euros, but it’s hard to resist a larger treat, no matter how recent my last cone. I hope you have the opportunity to try it next time you find yourself in the Marais district in Paris!

  82. Jeff Harvey said:

    We ended a walking tour of the Gargano peninsula in Vieste and were of course looking for gelato. After trying several so-so places we discovered Gelateria Artigianale Sotto Zero at Piazza John Kennedy 9. Seriously good gelato of a quality comparable to good places in Rome or Florence.

    • Jo said:

      It’s so great to find good gelato like that. I’ve updated the atlas to include it. Thank you for sharing it!

  83. Charlie said:

    Hello! I was surprised to see one particular gelateria missed off of your atlas. When I was on honeymoon in Florence we stumbled upon a place called Gelateria della Passera and frankly it blew our minds. We went back every day, sometimes twice a day, the whole trip. It was just incredible. Freshly made every day, daily changing flavours, seasonal, bins under the counter. Best flavours we ordered were dark chocolate, coffee, fior de latte with mint, and every single fruit sorbetti we tried (strawberry, melon, lemon, raspberry, and fruita de bosco). An incredible place, and I’d love to see you review if you got the chance!

    • Jo said:

      It is in there, as Della Passera, under Florence, you must have missed seeing it. It’s been there since we found it in the summer of 2016 when we stayed nearby. Best gelato south of the Arno for sure, and very reasonably priced. Glad you found and enjoyed it.

    • Clifton R. said:

      Yes! All the fruit flavors at Della Passera were good, but when we visited Florence (summer 2017) I found it hard to try many of the fruit flavors because the nut flavors (hazelnut and almond) were so superb I just wanted to order them every time I came back. I found I preferred the gelato at Della Passera by a slight edge over Perche No. (We also sampled Perche No several times, due to Ada & Jo’s recommendations and also our tour guide to the Duomo who took our group there as a reward for all our stair climbing.)

      It’s very near the Palazzo Pitti, so if you’re visiting the Palazzo Pitti or the Boboli Gardens (very worth it) it makes a wonderful restorative.

  84. Phil Koop said:

    You can add La Romana to the list of high quality chains in Torino. It’s right by Porto Susa station, which is also the bus station, so convenient for many when entering or leaving Torino.

    I can vouch for Gelateria Dolomiti in Racconigi, right by the royal palace, and also for Inferno Freddo in the main square of Casale Monferrato.

    • Jo said:

      Thank you! Added to the Atlas.

    • Phil Koop said:

      Milano update: I just went to OGGI, roughly between Teatro alla Scala and Castello Sforzesco (but closer to the Castello), and it has the A1 stuff. Milks, fruit ices, and fondente all pass with flying colours. I did not detect any ground nut texture in the hazelnut, but the flavour was satisfyingly intense. They did not have fior di latte (they had “fior di latte with mint and basil” which come on that is not fior di latte) but they did have fior di panne (perversely called by another name) and it was excellent.

      Be warned that if you approach, as I did, from the direction of Teatro alla Scala, you will pass a Riverino, so be prepared to steel yourself. The length of the queue may help you in that respect.

  85. Phil Koop said:

    From Pallanza (in Verbania), an update from the Journal of Negative Results. I am speaking only of places that pass the 15 foot test (I didn’t go to the K2, for instance) in Pallanza itself. There are other choices within 20-30 minutes walk down the shoreline in Susa or the other way in Verbania proper, and next time I will try one because the Pallanza options, Gelati Amo and Fior di Gelato, were slightly disappointing. The gelati had the correct physical properties with respect to texture, melting, and translucency, but simply had weak flavours. Even the chocolate was underwhelming. Not that I wouldn’t eat them if nothing better were convenient, of course.

    Of the two, Gelati Amo is on the lakefront but Fior di Gelato, just around the corner, is superior in my opinion.

  86. Andrea said:

    We’ve been using your posts as sacred guides throughout our non-traditional journey in Italy, ie we didn’t do Firenze, Venezia, Milano, etc and have discovered an authentic gem in southern Italy. I Vizi degli Angeli in Matera has had the best gelato we’ve tried, trumping, though not by much, my previous favorite in Bologna: gelateria galliera 49. They have a phenomenal lavender gelato and also excel at seasonal sorbeti like percoco, a summer-time deliciously fragrant and tasty peach sorbeto. Panna and double panna are both available, and like there gelato it is kept fresh in the metal bins. We liked this place so much we came back, requiring a 2 hour drive from where we’re staying! I noticed southern Italy recommendations are scarce on the Atlas so this would be a good addition.

    • Jo said:

      Thanks! I’ve added it. Sounds wonderful. We always appreciate this kind of report from places we might not have been.

  87. Martina said:

    Hi! I couldn’t leave this page without offering up a recommendation for my favorite gelateria: Gelateria De’ Coltelli (Pisa). It opened while I was at university in Pisa in 2004; now they have a shop in Lucca as well. I think they hit all of your major points: big focus on high-quality, natural ingredients, high concentration of amazing flavor, constant rotation of seasonal flavors. They also do granite. Honestly their quality is just superb, and has only improved over time — I was lucky enough to witness their evolution over 15 years. Another thing I appreciate is their experimentation with creative flavor combinations. Sadly I left Pisa in 2016, so I’m not up to date on their current offerings, but some of my favorites over the years have been salted caramel (don’t forget the whipped cream on top), lime and candied ginger, “A Serena” (pine nut, honey, and cream), and wild strawberry. But who knows what they’ve come up with in the meantime? Here is their website: https://www.decoltelli.it/

  88. Italiensk glass – Eller vad gör du när du står på ett café | #TalaOmTe & #TalaOmBöcker said:

    […] bloggen handlar ju om te, och glass är inte mer te än vad rooibos är. Men jag hittade följande inlägg som handlar om hur du på avstånd kan upptäcka om italiensk glass är bra eller […]

  89. Phil Koop said:

    Because of Covid, I haven’t been traveling. So here is a mid-town Toronto update. (Counting mid-town to start some ill-defined distance south of St. Clair, end some ill-defined distance north of Lawrence, and similarly somewhat west of Bathurst and east of Bayview.)

    There is a new gelataria on Yonge north of Lawrence, called “Your Gelato”, which in my opinion is now the best in the area. I know I am breaking Ada’s rule here, but I don’t entirely agree with her; in my opinion, gelaterias are what the mathematicians call a “partial order”, meaning that while some pairs are incommensurable, other pairs can be ranked. At any rate, I think it is a cut above Punto Gelato (Yonge south of Eglinton), which in turn is a cut above XO Gelato (Mt. Pleasant south of Eglinton.) Hollywood Gelato (Bayview south of Eglinton) is perhaps as unrankable as Ada suggests, as it scores high in the “fun” and “novelty” categories. I am also not ranking Hotel Gelato (Eglinton between Spadina and Avenue) because it is not convenient for me and so I seldom go there.

    Of all these, Your Gelato is closest to a subway station, so if you are detouring I think it is clearly the best bet. But if you are walking in the area, then any of these will do.

    • Phil Koop said:

      Oops. I see that my spelling of “gelateria” has been somewhat erratic. My apologies.

  90. Matt said:

    Tondi Gelato sprung up in Santa Barbara, CA during the pandemic. The owner and gelato maker is a Santa Barbara native who lived in italy from age 13 to 24, and who apprenticed there as a gelato maker. He has had a very successful high-end event catering business for about ten years – a cute cart and the same gelato he and his wife now sell on State street in Santa Barbara.

    Most importantly, their gelato is SUPERB. Half of it is vegan and you’d never know by tasting. And they have great Granite Siciliane. Everything is made from farmer’s market ingredients whenever possible.

    https://tondigelato.com/

  91. What To Do in Italy - 31 Authentic Things to Do, See and Eat said:

    […] This article goes into minute details as to how to spot good gelato from 15 feet away. I enjoy re-reading it every now and then. Above all, I enjoy eating Italian gelato any chance I have. To be honest, I am not a fussy gelato afficionado and can be easily pleased. Yet, there is one thing I am absolutely sure about – ice-cream all over the world will never taste the same for me after being spoiled by Italian gelato. […]

  92. Gaylord Holder said:

    Capogiro in Philadelphia is sadly no longer in business
    Caffe Gran L’Aquila (https://grancaffelaquila.com/) does have great gelato and an gelato master from L’Aquila Italy
    Anthony’s Coffee has a very good 2nd place gelato (https://www.italiancoffeehouse.com)

Comments are closed.