Adelaide’s best gelato comes from a petite pink cart. It joins seven other ice creams you must eat this summer.
From traditional gelato to the creamiest soft serve, we’ve found the best scoops to enjoy in and around Adelaide this summer.
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Jonny Pisanelli pulls up his pink gelato cart in UniSA’s City West campus, ready for a queue of sweet-toothed students.
“Traditionally in Australia we’re used to seeing gelato in a glass cabinet, but the way these carts are built is they don’t allow air to get in the gelato; it’s a more stagnant temperature,” says pastry chef Jonny, of Abbots and Kinney cafe.
“It means we can run the temperature of the gelati warmer than most cabinets, so the gelato when it’s in your mouth isn’t as ice cold.”
Adding gelato to his repertoire was a natural progression for Jonny, who has fast made a name for himself – and his pastries – since opening his first A&K in the city’s Pirie St five years ago.
He imported the eye-catching cart from Italy after completing a gelato-making scholarship in the Tuscan town of Grosseto one year ago. There he developed the tools to create his own flavours back home, in Adelaide.
“I got more of an understanding of how to formulate a recipe,” Jonny says. “If you get a recipe from overseas and it says to use a certain fruit, for example, the fruit in Europe is different from the fruit in Australia, so there is a different amount of fructose, which affects the consistency of the gelato.”
Understanding how the components of gelato – fat, sugar and fibre – work together allows Jonny to tap in to his creative genius.
He whips out traditional favourites such as hazelnut and lemon sorbet, but also experiments with unique flavours using his own pastries and cakes.
“We’ve incorporated our croissants into the base of a butter gelato, and added a raspberry jam,” he says. “That sort of stuff is really exciting.”
Excess salted caramel from his pastry creations is transformed into a powder to create a gelato flavour of the same name. “It replaces all the sugar,” Jonny says of the flavour, which boasts a moreish, bitter edge.
Other unique combinations have included a gin and tonic sorbet, and espresso martini.
“But the majority of customers just love a well-executed coffee or chocolate, or sorbet,” he says.
And, many of his options are 100 per cent vegan. The fat content from the nuts in his hazelnut flavour, for example, is enough. “I keep it vegan because I can – you can’t tell the difference,” Jonny says.
His gelato is among the best in town.
Here are some of our other new and old favourites for summer:
Pistachio – Bottega Gelateria
Gelato is a labour of love for Adriano Macri, who opened his seaside gelateria one year ago.
He uses traditional techniques to churn out beautiful, dense and creamy gelato, which is stored in a pozzetti – a long chest freezer with sunken canisters – rather than an open display. Ingredients are sourced from Italy (such as the Piemonte hazelnuts) and SA regions. Keep an eye on the seasonally changing menu. The cafe is light and contemporary, defined with pastels, timber and leather. Grab a perch or take your waffle cone for a walk by the beach.
Top pick: Organic pistachios from Gawler are used for a pale green (no artificial colours, here) and speckled pistachio gelato, which is creamy in texture and subtle in flavour. A nice one to pair with something like coffee or chocolate. It’s $6 for a scoop, complete with a wafer biscuit. Do pay the extra $1 for a pouring of indulgent chocolate sauce inside the cone, but bite with caution – or wear a bib!
Find it: 249a Seaview Rd, Henley Beach, 7080 7625. Open daily 12.30pm-late; from noon on weekends. On Facebook.
Zabaione – Bononia
Ask owner Ugo Capasso what the secret is to the best gelato and he will tell you it’s not about following a recipe; it’s about balance.
His gelati is made with organic biodynamic milk and has a low glycaemic index, which is ideal for diabetics. All of Bononia’s gelati and sorbet is made onsite, from traditional zabaione to raspberry sauce, which will have you thinking you’ve just bitten into a raspberry cheesecake. Also keep an eye out for inventive flavours such as aloe vera and olive oil.
Top pick: Traditionally, zabaione (or zabaglione) is an Italian dessert made from egg yolks, sugar and marsala. Bononia’s frozen version is something special. It’s a creamy, but not heavy custard gelato which echoes the taste of Italian sweet bread, panettone.
Find it: 145 Melbourne St, North Adelaide, facebook.com/bononiagelato. Open 2pm-9pm Tues-Fri; 3pm-9pm Sat.
Nutella – Abbotts and Kinney Cart
This petite pink cart might look cute and quirky but there are no gimmicks here. Pastry chef Jonny Pisanelli is passionate about making authentic gelato with all natural ingredients.
Don’t be fooled by the retro design – the cart’s digital temperature controls allows Jonny to keep his creations at a desireable -12C. For you and me, that means smooth, not-icy gelato that’s a pleasure to eat. The cart is a portable pozzetti, meaning the gelati (plural of gelato) is hiding safely in cannisters beneath the top, and is scooped out the traditional way: with a paddle. From $4.50 for a cup.
Top pick: Nutella lovers will adore Jonny’s gelato version, which strikes the perfect balance between chocolate and hazelnut. It’s velvety smooth and not too sweet, with a clean finish. Also try the chocolate, which is oh-so-intense, yet not at all heavy.
Find it: UniSA West, Fenn Pl, Mon-Fri 7.30am-5pm, available for hire on weekends. Jonny is also soon to open a bricks-and-mortar gelateria – watch this space. facebook.com/AbbotsandKinney
Sage & pomegranate – SASSI
Vanilla is so, well, vanilla. Former MasterChef contestant Huda Al Sultan and her husband Adam push the flavour boundaires with their ice cream inspired by the foods of their home country, Saudi Arabia. Think tahini, saffron and pomegranate. And it’s entirely gluten-free and vegan, with coconut rather than dairy milk as the base.
Top pick: Former MasterChef judge Matt Preston praised Sassi’s sage and pomegranate flavour when he was in town – and for good reason. The sage brings a strong savoury note that overrides any suggestion of coconutiness, while a sweet and tangy pomegranate swirl reminds you it’s sweet ice cream you’re eating.
Find it: Popping up at tonight’s Unley Gourmet Gala; Stirling Market on Saturday; and the Ebenezer Night Market on Feb 8, 14-15 and 21-22. Plant B Life in Hyde Park also stocks flavours Tahini Twist, Katayef and Muhallabia. sassiicecream.com.au
Sour cherry sundae – Cherry Burger
Baby Boomers will remember the iconic SA ice-cream brand AMSCOL, which has been resurrected following a near-40-year hiatus. Now generatious young and old can get a taste of the original recipe at new burger restaurant Cherry. Forget the airy, sugary sweet stuff that melts in seconds – this soft serve is thick and satisfying, and a $1 cone stands tall.
Top pick: Sundaes cost $2.95 and are big enough to share, with a thick and indulgent chocolate fudge, or try the “wicked cherry” topping for a sour hit.
Find it: 54 Beach Rd, Noarlunga Centre. Open 11am-9pm daily. cherryburger.com
Strawberry & Basil – 48 Flavours
These guys aren’t new, but their crowd-loving flavour combinations keep them on Adelaide’s ice-cream map. They veer from traditional to experimental with the likes of taro – similar to sweet potato – and black sesame. They rotate through their 48 flavour combinations, so it’s best to go for a tasting of what they’ve got in store. It’s $5.50 for a scoop.
Top pick: Their award-winning strawberry and basil is frozen yoghurt-esque in flavour. The sharpness of the fruit helps cut through the sweetness, while green flecks of basil brings an aromatic finish.
Find it: Gouger St, city; Magill Rd, Trinity Gardens; Paralowie Shopping Centre. Hours vary. 48flavours.com.au
Biscoff – Steven Ter Horst
Designer chocolates are hot, but one noted chocolatier has a cool edge in his dessert cafes.
Steven ter Horst’s soft-serve ice creams are served ultra cold, which enhances the sense of them being icy rather than creamy.
Keep an eye on social media for daily changing flavours, such as biscoff and an intense vegan berry sorbet. Grab it in a cone or glass for $7.50, with changing toppings such as salted caramel, berry coulis or honeycomb for an extra 50c.
Top pick: We’ve gotta go with the biscoff – a German biscuit spread that offers a malty finish.
Find it: Rundle St, city; King William Rd, Hyde Park, 7226 6216. steventerhorst.com.au
Fig & walnut – Dolcetti
In an otherwise ordinary shopping centre in Little Italy, Dolcetti has been making and serving its own gelati for more than six years now.
Italian heritage is the key: Dolcetti is owned by siblings Adam, Joe and Marisa Nero, who all worked at Cibo. They offer more than 20 flavours of gelati. While chocolate is always popular, sink your tongue into something a little different, like their new flavour, biscottino. It’s sweet and indulgent, and available in cups and waffle cones (from $4.50).
Top pick: The fig and walnut is beautifully fresh, the sweetness of the figs offset by a walnut-powered crunch.
Find it: 7/143 Glynburn Rd, Firle. Mon-Sun 8.30am-10pm (summer hours); dolcettiespressobar.com.au
– additional reporting
(and tasting) by Roseanna Daziani and Robyn Douglass