Did you know there is no official definition for the word gelato? There are rules for making all kinds of products but really, you could make a nice cup of coffee and sell it as gelato if you wanted to. In fact, there are several large companies that make ice cream and simply label it gelato hoping to fool the buyer into thinking they are getting something fancier.

Earlier this summer we petitioned the California Department of Food and Agriculture to adopt a standard for gelato. The standard includes the commonly accepted guidelines for gelato such as low fat, low overrun, and all-natural ingredients. The standard for ice cream was written decades ago and as far as we are concerned, if you make a product that clearly fits within the guidelines of ice cream, then your product is not gelato.

To learn more about our commonsense initiative please go to http://realgelato.org

We were invited to serve up our Fall gelato flavors at San Francisco magazine’s Fall Fest to support Meals on Wheels. The theme this year was “Eat Local” and our flavors were local indeed. Scharffen Berger Chocolate gelato, Mr Espresso gelato, and Medina Farms Strawberry sorbetto are all made from ingredients that come from right here in the Bay Area.

Our cart was mobbed with people most of the whole event. Towards the end of the event we nervously noticed we were going to run out of cones before we ran out of people. Luckily, we didn’t run out of gelato and people in line were happy to have their gelato scooped onto their plate, into water cups and even into their new Riedel wine glasses.

Summer sure seems to go by quick, doesn’t it? The good news is that Autumn brings with it some delicious flavors for our gelato and sorbetto.

Pumpkin and butternut squash are roasted and mixed into a creamy gelato as well as bananas. We churn our gelato with maple syrup and molasses for two more flavors. We bring back Autumn memories with a caramel apple and a pecan praline gelato. We do something a bit unusual with our acorn gelato and the result is delicious.

We will be serving these flavors all the way through Thanksgiving. As November ends we will turn our showcases over to the festive flavors of winter and the holidays.

Wow. People love gelato and ice cream.

When we were first invited to the Slow Food Nation Taste Pavilion we were asked to bring 25 liters (about 6 gallons) for the event. With a week to go we were asked to bring more. After the preview night we were asked to bring some extra as well for Saturday. Sunday morning we brought even more gelato. Then, just after leaving Fort Mason and our time commitment fulfilled, I got a call that they needed me to bring one last delivery of gelato or the Ice Cream Pavilion would essentially run out of product.

There certainly could have been some better planning from the organizers. I mean, they knew how many tickets they sold, right? But we were thrilled to help and our kitchen team was happy about the overtime. We went from making 25 liters for the event to making over 600 liters of gelato when it was all over.

Saturday: Today was the first day of Taste Pavilion open to the public. In case you haven’t been yet, this is how it works; you get “Slow Dough” to “spend” at each of the exhibits e.g. Pickles and Chutney, Coffee, Chocolate, and of course Ice Cream, Gelato. Our exhibit is broken up into three “flights” at 2 Dough Dollars each - Classic, Alternative and Modern. Naia is featured in a sprinkling between the three flights so be sure to check us out in the flight you choose if you go.

Today we sampled Scharffen Berger 41% Gelato, Medina Farms Raspberry Sorbetto, Pavel’s Yogurt Stracciatella Gelato, Mr. Espresso Gelato, Foresta Nero Gelato and Pluot Sorbetto using pluots from a local farm. It was great to meet old and new fans and hear what they had to say about our product, including new flavors!

It’s difficult to spend all of your Slow Dough because the lines are so intense; so here are a few tips we gathered from our own experience and others; the bread exhibit has some nice pizza and Indian breads (2 Dough dollars each). The chocolate exhibit has a couple interesting pieces in their 2 Dough dollar flight, and the charcuterie exhibit has a 3 Dough dollar flight that includes three pieces of meat and paté. Pickles and Chutney were only 1 Dough dollar, tasty, and the lines seemed shorter there too.

Friday: Friday was the big VIP event for the Taste Pavilion. Slow Food Nation is split up into many different pavilions at Fort Mason and the Civic Center but one big attraction to Slow Food is, well, the taste, so Taste Pavilion is popular and sold out.
It turned out that some of the other ice cream and gelato producers didn’t show, so we ended up being the only producer to talk about our product - it was fun seeing some old friends from Whole Foods Market as well as finding out about small and local producers just like ourselves but in orchards, farmers’ markets, spirits, and the Slow Food “conviviums”. Nicolle, Trevor and I sampled our pistachio gelato, which was really a great example of gelato as slow food - over sixteen hours the day before we had been milling the roast pistachios grown from a local third generation family farm, churning gelato and freezing the gelato for Slow Food Nation.

Slow Food Nation kicks off this weekend and we will be there showcasing our gelato at the Taste Pavilions. We were honored to be invited and look forward to meeting not only the people coming to sample our gelato but also fellow ice cream and gelato producers.

If you are coming, please drop by the ice cream pavilion and say hi. If you didn’t get tickets before they sold out, don’t know what it is we are talking about or, like me, were shocked at the ticket prices, we will be providing daily updates on the event right here on the website. If you are a Club Naia member you can already guess we will be talking about it in the Dirt section of our newsletter as well.