Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Gelateria del Teatro, Rome



It isn't flashy like other gelaterias. In fact, it's tucked into a little side street off the lovely Via dei Coronari, the antique street of Rome--which I just happened to find it quite by accident! 

But since Gelateria del Teatro in Rome always appears in the shortlist of "best gelaterias in Rome",
I recognized the name immediately. 
The low-key, antique-y looking sign attracted me.


Just outside the entrance is a write up of the place. Probably the result of some company public relations effort. I was eager to get inside and try the ice-cream so I quickly snapped photos of the article so I could read later on. 


While I was snapping away at the write up on the wall, who should stroll up next to me at the door? 

The milkman!


It was nice to see their "latte fresca" arrive for the day, and in relatively small quantities too. 



Prices are similar to other gelaterias in the city, but their servings are not as big.


They identify which of their ice creams have milk and which have none by the colors of the serving spoon.  A very thoughtful detail for the lactose-intolerant.


Compared to other places, the ice cream display is also quite simple--in fact, bordering on boring.
 This place give that air of artisan-ship, fresh, natural, where ice-cream is made in small batches.

 Don't be deceived by attractive displays

This is usually what other displays look like--overflowing pans. We walked past this gelateria in a touristy area and had to get ice-cream for the kids.  Sadly, ice cream was not worth the calories! Not all gelatos are the same.


Back to del Teatro. From where I was sitting, I could see the glass-enclosed kitchen.

I went to take a peek inside.


This lady had just whisked together a few ingredients in a bowl before she stooped down to get something. From what I see--a calculator, a notebook, a few ingredients scattered here and there. 
Hey, This kinda looks like my kitchen!

It tasted so fresh, with natural pure flavors.

I had Crema and Torta di Limone. Whenever I try a new ice cream place, I like to choose the flavor which looks like the most popular one judging from the almost empty pans.
And these were the half full pans.

(But note that I've also been fooled by this. I've learned after that full untouched pans have sometimes just replaced quickly-finished flavors, making the full pan the most popular flavor.)


They had other goodies in the store too but I didn't try them.
Now I regret not getting a bite of this Gianduia panna cotta with mousse. Wow, look at them!


Note to self: next time try everything, and taste everything--for I might not pass this way again!


Coming from a place where a lot of the ice-cream is labelled "frozen dessert" instead of ice-cream, 
I can say that Del Teatro's ice cream is definitely exquisite. Before heading out, I got myself another cup of strawberry and white chocolate. This ice cream is worth every calorie.


What a thrilling afternoon for me, and I thought I was just walking down the street to go to a hardware store. But that's another story.

2 comments:

Sonya McCllough Lockridge said...

travel and design notes in one place, I like this idea and this photo is awesome ... I'm from your BYW class

rianaks said...

Read about this Gelateria in Luxe City Guide Rome and as it was in Navona area where we were staying, wanted to try it. It was not easy finding it. On our last night, finally found it using Google Map's walking directions for iPhone. Turns out, it was just 5 mins by foot from our apartment and 2 mins from the pizzeria where we were going to have dinner. And you, just simply happened to stroll by it? Serendipity! Definitely worth every calorie.

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