Cult ice cream brand, Gelato Messina, are in Rundle Mall - and they’re moving here soon
The Adelaide brothers behind cult-followed Gelato Messina have popped up in Rundle Mall — and they’ve plans to open permanently too.
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They’ve amassed nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram for their decadently mounded creations and flavours such as Crumb on Over and It’s All Rum and Games.
Now, Adelaide-born brothers Nick and Danny Palumbo of the cult-followed Gelato Messina are bringing their indulgent ice creams back home.
The Gelato Messina pop-up in Rundle Mall is delighting local foodies and sweet-tooths alike as part of the Vogue Fashion Festival, until Sunday. It’s the first time the boys have personally brought home their gelati, and there’s good reason – they’re actively looking for sites to open permanently.
“We’re looking at Kent Town,” says Nick, moved to Sydney to open the first Gelato Messina in 2002. “We’ve been tossing up locations, but we want it to be a destination, so there needs to be parking.
“The thing about Adelaide is, we’ve always wanted to come back, but there’s so much to do in Sydney and Melbourne, you almost forget.
“Apart from that, there’s a bit of a fear of failure in Adelaide; a little bit of, well what if it doesn’t work here?”
If response to the pop-up is any indication, Adelaide is bound to be yet another success for the boys, who have now 19 Messina stores across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. They’ve also secured a license agreement for South East Asia, and are opening a store in Los Angeles. There’s now four in the business, with former chef Donato (Donny) Toce and DJ Declan Lee joining around a decade ago.
It’s a far cry from the brothers’ days at Cafe Buongiorno in Rundle St in the 90s, where they first started experimenting with making gelato.
“I always wanted to build a brand, and I thought Sydney would resonate,” Nick says. “There was a hunger for new food brands, and it was the beginning of the wave of quality and artisan products. We rode that wave.”
The brothers agree the dining landscape has changed in Adelaide in recent years - and it’s time to open back home.
But first - the pop-up.
Among the range of flavours they’re whipping out from within the transportable are two homeley tributes: Breakfast in Adelaide, featuring fior di latte gelato with nutella fudge and Danny’s favourite childhood snack, YoYo biscuits. Danny’s former life as a tradie also inspired For the Union sundae: Farmers Union Iced Coffee gelato, scooped atop a custard tart.
Gelato Messina pop-up is open until 9pm tonight (Friday), and 10am-5pm Sat-Sun.
