It may be five months later to the party than expected, but Coda chef Adam D'Sylva and Monika Frkovic's Boca Gelateria is not going to disappoint now it has finally swung open its mint-green doors in Ivanhoe.

Boca draws on nostalgia for inspiration, with flavours that reflect D'Sylva's Indian and Italian heritage and career, plus some classic favourites.

Frkovic says the coconut sorbet is a standout, an old D'Sylva recipe from his time at Longrain, and there is also a chai that uses a Tonka recipe with fresh ginger and toasted spices.

Frkovic is also pulling out the big guns saying: "I know everyone thinks they do the best pistachio, but I think mine is the best in town."

The real nostalgia is found in the cakes, including a passionfruit bombe Alaska that Frkovic describes as a pavlova in ice-cream form, and a luminous children's cake with their made-from-scratch bubblegum flavour, strawberries, marshmallow and chocolate freckles.

"We wanted to elevate for adults everything that they might have recognised as kids," says Frkovic.

Choc tops draw on Australian classics such as Golden Gaytimes and Drumsticks for inspiration, and they are also doing chocolate or vanilla soft-serves that you can embellish with cookies, cherries and house-made strawberry, caramel or chocolate sauce.

You can also pick two flavours from the cabinet and have them in thickshake form.

There are 10 seats in the former bookshop, impeccably detailed by Studio Round with imported terrazzo stone for the counters and handmade green light fittings.

Boca is open daily noon-9pm.

183 Upper Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe, bocagelato.com.au