Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the tongue. The chocolate gelatos are
especially intense; they also serve a few
whipped mousse flavors that are
supremely light. Tiny chunks of real fruit or
caramel may be mixed into the gelato to
kick up the flavor as well. Vivoli only serves
whatever gelati they've made fresh that
day, so the flavor you're craving may not
be available, but all the more reason to try
one of their more adventurous flavors, like
pear with caramel or blackcurrant mousse.
Also following tradition, Vivoli serves its
gelato only in cups—there isn't a cone on
the premises.
Vivoli is often overrun with tourists—
with that central location near Santa Croce,
it's all too handy for sightseers—and with
that lock on the tourist trade, they've been
able to get away with higher-than-average
prices and the smaller-than-usual portion
sizes. In summer especially, scornful locals
may retreat to
Perchè No!
(Via dei Tavolini
19/r;
&
39/55/ 2398969
) or
Gelateria dei
Neri
(via dei Neri 20-22;
&
39/55/210 034
),
two other excellent
gelateria
in the center
of town. (How easy to be a gelato snob if
you're lucky enough to live in Florence!) The
solution for any right-thinking visitor, of
course, is to be impartial and try them all—
two or three times if possible.
7 via Isole delle Stinche (
&
39/55/
292334;
www.vivoli.it).
L
$$$
Hotel Monna Lisa,
Borgo Pinti
27 (
&
39/55/247-9751;
www.monnalisa.
it). $
Hotel Abaco,
Via dei Banchi 1 (
&
39/
55-238-1919;
www.abaco-hotel.it).
Ice Creameries
494
Il Gelato di San Crispino
The Art & Science of Gelato
Rome, Italy
For over a century, Rome's oldest gelate-
ria, glossy
Giolitti
(40 via Uffici del Vicario;
&
39/6/6991243,
near the Piazza Navona),
ruled Rome's gelato scene with an ency-
clopedia of inventive flavors and over-the-
top sundaes served in its adjoining cafe.
But that was before the Alongi brothers
set up shop on the suburban Via Acacia in
1993. Inspired by the gelati they had eaten
while students in Florence—especially the
gelato at Vivoli (see above)—Giuseppe
and Pasquale Alongi, with Giuseppe's wife
Paola, decided it was time to reinvent
gelato.
The Alongi brothers aren't just ice-cream
artisans, they're ice-cream scientists.
They're zealous not only about the purity
and freshness of their ingredients but about
controlling the temperature at which it is
made and stored. (Because they don't use
chemical preservatives or emulsifiers, freez-
ing temperatures are essential to prevent
spoilage and preserve a uniformly smooth
texture.) They have developed a distinct
recipe—or perhaps it should be called a
formula—for each gelato flavor, with pre-
cise proportions calibrated to ensure that
the texture, aroma, and balance of flavors
are just right. They refuse to add dyes to
color their gelato—don't expect to see the
usual rainbow effect in their glass cases.
And like Vivoli, they serve it in cups, not
cones, on the theory that the taste of the
cone alters the gelato's flavor.
San Crispino's best-known flavors
include zabaglione, made with organic
eggs and aged Marsala wine; the “house”
flavor San Crispino, delicately made with
high-grade honey; and the ever-popular
hazelnut and pistachio, made with nuts
freshly ground by hand. And while the sum-
mertime brings a host of heavenly fruit fla-
vors—exotic things like pomegranate and
pink grapefruit, and a simply divine pear
