Dear Reader, below is my Ultimate Guide to the five best gelato shops to indulge in while you travel but also, it is very much a love story.
There are many beautiful products we Americans associate with Italy: gorgeous frescos, The David, cobblestone streets, Stanley Tucci, democracy, love, pizza, pasta, star crossed lovers, fine leather handbags, and most importantly gelato!
Pictured here: Pistachio and sour cherry with cream!
Since my very first gelato in Venice in the summer of 2005, I have been enchanted by this delicious dessert. Those who have not experienced proper Italian gelato will remark, "what's the bid deal? It's just ice cream."
Respectfully, no it is not.
This is a matter of chemistry and artistry that other blogs have detailed very well (such as this lovely article from David Lebovitz). So, I will instead endeavor to say it my own way. Gelato is to ice cream like the popular girl who flowered over the summer. She grew three inches, she's wearing make up, she has the cooler clothes you begged for from Delia's, she's wearing Doc Martins with perfectly torn tights, and she listens to Nirvana. You both return to school in August, and while you may technically be in the 8th grade together, you are not in the same league.
Now that we have that settled. A quick note on why this particular trip through Italy was so special. I had the pleasure of taking my daughter along as well! And she follows after my own gelato loving heart. So enjoy our Gelato journey through the top gelato shops by region below:
Florence : Gelato from the city to the countryside
When In Rome: How to choose your gelato?
When in doubt, look for a line! No need to fear. The lines move quickly and most of the time, the evenings are balmy, beautiful, and full of music and magic to keep you entertained while you wait.
These particular shops are located in the heart of the city near many Roman Landmarks you will likely be sightseeing: The Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain
Venchi's is my favorite. It is the best gelato I have ever tasted, and I have literally eaten the winner of the Best Gelato in the World (see below). Venchi's is a fine chocolatier as well, each gelato has one of their chocolates hand placed on top when they serve it to you. They have a chocolate wall where you can buy bars or magnificent truffles by the box.
Pictured here: espresso and salted caramel with a dark chocolate medallion
Grom: Just a few steps away from the Piazza Navona is Grom. A Roman style gelato purveyor who specializes in authentically made gelato with intense seasonal flavors. So good!Giolitti
Giolitti: Aaaah how I love Giolitti. They are technically a full restaurant with a lovely dessert menu, but I can never resist their pastry shop lined with cookies, confections, and biscuits or their many gelato counters. Rows and rows of flavors here in bright colors served Roman style with a dollop of full fat cream on top. Yaaaasss!
Reality Check: Just seconds after this adorable photo, I toppled this gorgeous gelato cone down the front of my dress. Luckily I still was able to enjoy half of it!
Della Palma: A tour guide from Rome whom I adored told me her favorite shop was Della Palma. Let me tell you, it is not to be missed. They have 150 flavors! And they are delicious. Their flavors are vast, seemingly limitless, and seasonal. I saw flavors I have never dreamed existed. I ordered limoncello, blackberry, and lavender, and it was one of the most sublime experiences of my trip. I highly recommend.
Florence: Gelato from the city through the countryside
City Center
There are so many beautiful sights in the city center of Florence from the Ponte Vecchio to Santa Croce, but more on the beautiful sights in my next post.
If you happen to be near the Accademia just waiting for your time slot to see The David, you are likely sweating in the mid day sun and in need of sustenance.
La Strega Nocciola Gelateria Artigianale: just around the corner from The David and is a delicious gelato shop known for their stracciatella and signature flavors, hazelnut and lavender.
Tuscan Countryside
For a couple of days we toured the Tuscan countryside driving through picturesque fields of sunflowers and mountain scapes. We visited Siena and toured the Duomo and ate pizza in the piazza del campo. We can now tell stories at dinner parties to come of getting caught in the rain and eating chocolate mousse until the storm subsided.
This particular day, we ate lunch on a farm and vineyard in the hills overlooking a town hailed as medieval Manhattan. It was once the center of commerce in the region. Now it is mostly known for its prestigious past, its somehow still standing stone city, and The Best Gelato in the World.
San Gimignano: Home of The Best Gelato in the World
Buyers Beware: I must admit I was bested by a charlatan on my first purchase. I was so excited to try the Best Gelato in the World that I didn't read the sign properly. I walked in giddy with Elf energy ready to tell everyone, "Congratulations you, guys. You did it!" I paid the man and was handed my cone when my husband taps me on the shoulder and gently informs me the sign said Best Ice Cream in the World, and there was no award given to them, it was more based on unsubstantiated self confidence or perhaps something their mother told them the first time she tasted their ice cream. At any rate, I was lied to and hoodwinked. And I didn't follow my dad's advice: Always look for the line!
Barrett pointed me in a direction of a long line of excited people outside the correct Gelato shop, Gelateria Dondoli, with their awards proudly displayed on their signs and historic stone building. So we queued in, and as you can see below, I finally tasted the Best Gelato in the World many years running! I ordered their specialty flavors champagne, passion fruit, and mango. They were silky smooth and refreshing.
Of all the gelatos I have tasted all over the world, the true joy for me was sharing this particularly sweet journey with my daughter. Ice cream was always the way to my father's heart, and I thought of him each time I was handed one of these beautiful creations. I think that's why I commemorated each one with a picture of the two of us. Her and I weren't simply sharing a dessert, I was passing on a cherished legacy of sugar, and sweet memories, and never acknowledging your stomach's limitations.
The last gelato I ate with my father was last summer in Laguna Beach at our favorite shop, Gelato Paradiso. I have relished the memory of that warm July evening so many times over these last eleven months that I recently had that very gelato cone tattooed on my arm. My daughter and I met my dad (three generations of gelato lovers!) and his wife for dinner and dessert, and I can still see him standing in his Bugatchi dress shirt and Mephisto boat shoes on the red brick path of Peppertree Lane savoring his double scoop of chocolate gelato under the golden hues of the moonlight and making sure each of us had enough little paper napkins to go around.
Recently, I read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Notes on Grief about her losing her father where she wrote:
"I finally understand why people get tattoos of those they have lost. The need to proclaim not merely the loss but the love, the continuity. I am my father's daughter. It is an act of resistance and refusal: grief telling you it is over and your heart saying it is not..."
I am my father's daughter.
With Love and Gelato,
Rachel
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