April 08, 2015

"G" is for Gelato

No ice cream lover’s visit to Italy is complete without sampling the local gelato and opinions abound on where to find the best. There’s a wonderful shop in the hill town of San Gimignano that has won awards for its artisanal gelato, Gelateria Dondoli, and our stop here was a highlight of my afternoon in Tuscany.


Gelateria Dondoli, San Gimignano



Sergio Dondoli explained the process for making his gelato – never more than 24 hours old – and then I ordered three of his unique creations. It was a difficult decision. I love chocolate. And lemon. But this was an opportunity to try something really special so I chose two varieties made with fresh local ingredients: Venere Nera (blackberries and lavender) and Crema di Santa Fina (saffron with pine nuts). My third choice was Champelmo (pink grapefruit and sparkling wine). And each flavour was sublime.



Champelmo, Venere Nera and Crema di Santa Fina


It’s no wonder celebrities like Andrea Bocelli, Tony Blair and Franco Zeffirelli have made the trek to this little gelateria in San Gimignano. Dondoli even developed a new recipe for Michelle Obama in anticipation of a visit from the American President. (Michelle is flavoured with saffron, honey, orange and almond.) As we continued our tour through Italy I ate gelato on many more occasions but I must agree that Sergio Dondoli’s gelato really is the best.







18 comments:

  1. Yum. Gelato is the best. Perfect G.

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  2. I'm not a huge fan of ice cream, but I would love to try Gelato.

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    1. I'm not really a big ice cream fan either but I certainly enjoyed the gelato. And when in Rome...

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  3. What a 'G'orgeous Gelato photo! I remember having profiterole flavour yummy! Your post paints mouthwatering images... best I go experiment with dairy free gelato! :) Life Diet Health (A-Z Challenge 625 atow)

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    1. Thank you! And all the colours come from the fruit and natural ingredients, no artificial colours or preservatives added.

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  4. How lovely! Up until a few years ago, all we had here in Curaçao was Baskin Robbins and Häagen Dazs. Then an Italian family opened a gelateria, and nothing was ever the same again :) They're probably not even close to Signore Dondoli's, but they're a far cry from Baskin Robbins, haha. It's the highlight of a day after the beach.
    Guilie @ Quiet Laughter

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  5. I must confess I love Haagen Dazs Chocolate Chocolate Chip. But a day at the beach followed by gelato sounds even better.

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  6. Oh, those look amazing! I love gelato! It's just so expensive it's a once a year treat for me.

    (Blogspot won't let me comment with my Wordpress ID. My A - Z challenge blog can be found here: http://out0fprint.wordpress.com )

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    1. But I'll bet that if you had gelato every day you wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much.

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  7. I love gelato. On a trip to Vienna there was a gelato store next door to the hotel. Guess what treat I had every day. Yum.

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    1. How convenient. That's a great opportunity to try lots of different flavours.

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  8. I just got back from Italy yesterday, and gelato is just wonderful. I'll have to put this place on my list for our next trip there!

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    1. And the town of San Gimignano is very charming too - even more reason to visit.

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  9. Ooh, those flavors do sound delicious. I usually always go for chocolate, but yours sounds like a tempting combo. :)

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  10. I'm not keen on ice cream, but I think I could be tempted!

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