The art of Italian artisanal gelato is alive in New York City and Venchi is at the forefront, now poised to open a third store in Manhattan. After the flagship in the Union Square area, famed for featuring the largest waterfall of chocolate in the world, and another location near Columbus Circle, the premier chocolate and gelato brand from Piemonte is coming to the heart of the West Village, at the corner of Bleecker and Carmine Streets (in a former location of gelateria Grom).
Venchi tells La Cucina Italiana that it’s planning a fourth location on the Upper West Side this year.
If it’s not a gelato revolution, it’s very close. In fact, the brand is one of the many gelaterias that are emerging around Manhattan and Brooklyn.
“New Yorkers love experiencing foods from around the world and gelato is no exception,” explains Michele Sbarigia, Venchi’s retail operations manager. “Gelato is something quite different from ice cream, which tends to be more industrially produced. Our product is made from all-natural ingredients, less fat, and it is an artisanal product made in small batches, still handcrafted in the traditional Italian style.”
Venchi is also selling a strawberry flavor with 50% less sugar and soon will introduce a chocolate-based flavor, Cuor di Cacao, with dramatically less sugar as well.
According to Dino Borri, Eataly’s Global Vice President, gelaterias are multiplying around the city because customers are tired of packaged foods. Borri adds that outdoor dining has helped fuel the gelato infatuation because New Yorkers and visitors can sit and enjoy their gelato while seated at a table, as in Italy.
Even Sant Ambroeus, the iconic Italian restaurant, founded in Milan in 1936 and with locations in New York dating back almost 40 years, has introduced an assortment of coppe gelato, the Italian version of a sundae.
Rhubarb Gelato from L'Albero dei Gelati.
Unique in its style is L'Albero dei Gelati (The Gelato Tree) in Brooklyn, which advertises its “farm-fresh gelato.” Owner Monia Solighetto, who hails from Lombardy, makes gelato with natural ingredients. “We think that anything that comes from the land can be turned into gelato. We use spinach, tomato, asparagus, cheese to give a salty twist to a sweet product,” she says.
M’O Il Gelato on Mulberry Street takes a similar ingredient-driven approach. They serve more than 20 flavors, offering a mix of familiar favorites such as Bacio (Gianduia Chocolate and Roasted Hazelnuts) and pistachio, and new ones such as Delirium (Biscotti cream and chocolate fudge) and Monella (Amarena, dark cherry).
Gelateria Gentile, with a tradition that dates back to 1880 in Italy, has two locations, one in Williamsburg and one in the West Village. They stand out especially with four coffee-based flavors that combine spiced notes of the Far East and the sublime aroma of the South American highlands: Pinkpeppercoffee, White coffee and chai, Caffecardamomo, and Dark Orient.