almost as good

as some know, i exact high standards of my food products. particularly of my frozen dessert products. ice cream.. is alright. but i truly adore gelato. and not just any gelato. a brief stint as a gelato scooper in the summer before i started my undergrad instilled in me a passion for handcrafted italian gelato, and for this i thank steve at piccolo grande. if you are ever in ottawa, a piccolo cup brimming with amaretto, bacio, and hazelnut is obilgatory. or, if you prefer something liquid, a coconut gelato milkshake is perfect on a summer afternoon. might i also take this opportunity to remind everyone that i came up with the name for cherry cha-cha, just in case you have forgotten.

i digress. the point i am getting to is that i have discovered a close second to piccolo grande, in the grocery store packaged variety. after sampling numerous hand-crafted gelatos in store around the country, i have to say that this product is truly impressive. in fact, their toasted hazelnut is so outstanding that i would be interested in pitting it in a taste test against PG nocciola. yes, my toronto friends, i am officially endorsing gelato fresco and their tasty gelatos. so far, i have tried 4 flavours of the 'low-fat dairy ice' variety: creme caramel (lovely burnt caramel flavour), devil's chocolate (so dark, and so good), cafe latte (my second favourite), and toasted hazelnut (my hands-down favourite). i also tried the alfonso mango sorbet, which was alright, but not as good as PG mango. last night i decided to sample the milanese vanilla (which is an actual ice cream, rather than a gelato), and it proved to be creamy and fragrantly delicious. unfortunately, it seems to me that GF is only available in toronto. pity for all of you.