The London Observer Magazine and Germany's Focus said we have the tastiest gelato in Europe. Faith Willinger gave us a very positive review in Epicurious, and is including our orange champagne sorbet and ginger scone recipe in her forthcoming cookbook. The Italian food magazine Gambero Rosso did a feature on the art and philosophy of Gelatauro in Sept 2004. We opened our doors in 1998, but when we moved down a block to via San Vitale, 98 we added handmade chocolates and pastries, as well as selected wines and fruit preserves to our menu. In colder weather we offer handmade hot chocolate and bon bons, in warmer weather a selection of chocolate, coffee and fresh fruit "granite" or slushes. The chocolate and coffee slushes may be served with whip cream and eaten with a spoon or in a traditional Southern Italian sweetbread ice cream roll known simply as a "brioche". The fruit granite flavors range from the classic lemon to lemon with fresh ground mint, watermelon jasmine and fig jasmine. They can be served in a cup with a dollop of the yogurt gelato or any of your choosing. The granite flavors may also be consumed on the stick in homemade "ghiaccioli" popsicles with an artistic twist. After eating the frozen confection, the consumer will find a maxim by Roman or Greek authors branded on each stick which relates ironically to eating a shortlived frozen treat.

The person responsible for branding the ghiaccioli and creating this website is American artist Angela Lorenz, married to one of the three Figliomeni brothers that own and run Il Gelatauro. Familiar with Bologna and its environs, having initially lived there for a year on Brown University's program in Bologna, Lorenz conceived of the gelateria's mosaic logo of a bovine head with ice cream cone horns based on a mosaic from Ravenna in the church San Vitale(for which Bologna's San Vitale was named, and where one would end up, if you followed the state highway out the San Vitale gate). The artist has also covered the walls with watercolor mosaics of gelato ingredients, with the history of each food, spice or fruit in english and italian from ancient times to the present. In three wall cases she has installed ephemera, packaging and paraphrenalia relating to ice cream, coffee, chocolate and tea. Her only edible contribution to the gelateria are the potato-starch business cards printed with edible ink. Although a project for a ice-cream cake sundial is in the works; any excuse to teach people history through food! There are a few other art and food performances in the cooker - see the art section for details.

Beyond the unusual decor, there are other aspects to this gourmet gelato shop that surprise the patron. The proprietors come from Calabria, in Southern Italy, where they have their own organic citrus grove, as well as a few fig and walnut trees. When the oranges are in season, they ship them north for their orange sorbet and chocolate orange gelato. Other flavors at the gelateria reflect their southern heritage as well. The Figliomeni brothers mix the finest Sicilian pistachios with almonds and spongecake for their "King of the two Sicilies"(Re delle due Sicilie) flavor, named after the regions' former title. Principe di Calabria(Prince of Calabria) is a milk-based flavor with two local Calabrian essences - jasmine and bergamot. The more humble Crema del Pastore(shepherd's cream) is created from ricotta, eggs and ground coffee beans. And while fennel seed is found wild throughout the Calabrian countyside, the inspiration for the milk-based fennel seed gelato came from a visit to Genoa, where an ancient confectioner sells sugared fennel seeds to give as gifts to encourage milk production for nursing mothers. Another recipe gleaned from travel in the north is called"Formaggio e pere"(Cheese and pears). It is based on a Friulian dish of grated pear served with pureed ricotta and taleggio on the side. Here they are mixed to form a fruit gelato with a cheese afterbite. Another specialty, made from organic crystallized Australian ginger, is not a common flavor in Italy. Though ginger was used in cooking through medieval times there, it was quickly forgotten in subsequent centuries. In the early fall Il Gelatauro makes fresh southern cactus fruit into a sorbet, which might might be pink one day and orange the next, as the color of the fruit varies. Later in the fall, persimmon comes into season, along with concord grape.

Gelatauro offers all the traditional flavors as well, but distinguishes itself in its unheard-of quest in Italy to use organic produce, flour, sugar and butter and to avoid artificial colors, flavors and preservatives in all the pastry and gelato. And you will find no vegetable fats in the ice cream, baked goods or chocolates here - something very few gelato or pastry shops can claim in Italy these days, sadly. Vegetable fat and powdered milk can be stored without refrigeration (and are cheaper than fresh milk and cream). So space constraints (especially for shops with a very large clientele) and a desire to increase profit margins have led most shops with "handmade gelato" to create a product that is heavier on the digestion. Gelatauro's gelato has only 7% fat content, 1/2 to 1/3 of the fat content in what might be considered high-quality American ice cream.

The flavor speaks for itself, however. Our quest for flavor leads us down interesting paths to prestigious ingredients from small producers ( like those promoted through the Fair Trade and Slow Food movements) from Italy to South America to Australia. A perusal of our food history and ingredients index below will tell you more about what goes into Gelatauro.