In Italy, the word ‘gelato’ comes from ‘congelato’ which means frozen.

In Australia, our Food Standards Code has rules about what can be called ‘ice cream’. ‘Ice cream’ in Australia has to have at least 10% fat or it can’t be sold as ice cream!

Italian gelato typically has less fat – around 6-8%, less sugar and around 70% less air than ‘ice cream’. This makes it characteristically more dense, with more intense flavour. 

But if you make a super fatty fluffy ice cream in Italy – though it may not be appreciated – it’s still called gelato! Italian laws are currently reviewing putting regulations on gelato producers in Italy to preserve the high quality artisan product it is famous for.

There’s a few things in general to look out for whether you are in Italy or Melbourne or anywhere in the world.

Storage:

First, look how the gelato is stored. Bright displays of colourful gelato are a sure sign there’s something off with the quality. To keep the best quality, gelato is stored under the counter in pozzetti where it’s protected from oxidation to the air, and temperature control is perfect. Gelato that fluctuates in temperature becomes unstable, creating ice crystals and an unpleasant, grainy texture.

Taste:

Pistacchio that has been made from properly roasted nuts will not be bright green, but a more earthy tone of green and should taste of roasted nuts. Pay attention to the flavours next time and shop around – it is amazing what you will notice, even a flavour as simple as vanilla can be a game changer when those flavours are on point!

Consistency:

Great gelato is characteristically dense and smooth. Ice cream produced on batch runs can incorporate up to 100% air (that’s right, half of what you are paying for is just air!)  Sugars are important as they lower the freezing point to give gelato a soft consistency. However, we prefer to use a serving temperature of around -12C to keep the gelato soft rather than increasing the amount of sugar too much. We aim to keep our sugar levels between 16% and 19% (higher for sorbets), against the standard of 18%-24%. This really allows all the artisan flavours to shine and sets our gelato apart.

We’ve been producing gelato for almost ten years, and we meet the rigorous quality and safety standards required to make the best gelato. We work with Dairy Safe Victoria to meet the highest standards in our production facility where we produce artisan, small batch gelato daily.

Our gelato chef’s churn our gelato fresh daily, maintaining a strict quality protocol so the gelato is consistent and in perfect condition when it arrives freshly made at the shop. 

Our carts are super versatile and we aim for the smoothest and most fun gelato experience around! If you’ve booked dessert for 9pm for example, we’ll arrive around 8:30pm, roll the cart into position and start scooping right on time at 9pm. It’s as easy as that. No fuss and no stress!

We sure can! If you need us in position earlier in the day we can drop off the cart and have our lovely staff return for the start of service. The fee for early drop off is $50+GST per half hour, and depends on the location of your event. Please get in touch for more details.

Yes you can. Extra service time is charged at $75+GST per half hour.

Our gelato carts are self powered, which makes life super easy. We just roll them into position, serve you and your lovely guests as much gelato as you can eat, and roll them away again at the end of service. 

Yes of course you can! In fact, we encourage you to do this. Your guests deserve the best, so pop down to Elwood or call us to book in a time for a wedding sampler! Our gelateria is located at 104 Ormond Road, Elwood.

In terms of booking a cart, it is simply first in best dressed. Generally we suggest booking at least six months in advance, but our best advice is to lock it in as soon as you know you want the booking.

We make a range of flavours that don’t have dairy, gluten or nuts as ingredients.

We do our best but unfortunately we can never guarantee that any of our flavours are completely free from allergens like TREE NUTS, PEANUTS, SOY, GLUTEN, MILK, EGG and more. We take all the right steps but there’s still a chance of cross contamination during production, and during service.

If your guests are highly allergic (anaphylactic) we politely suggest that they don’t consume our gelato.

Yes we do! Following the rave reviews about our cannoli from Elwood, we’re very pleased to announce the addition of our brand new cannoli cart! Indulge your guests with the cannoli that are taking Melbourne by storm at the moment! If you’d like both a gelato cart and a cannoli cart, please mention this in your enquiry form and we’ll provide you with a quote.

That’s not a question, but ok! Our beautiful carts are all made in a small town called Giarre in Sicily. Each one is purpose built for gelato, with a 6 hour cooling system designed to keep the gelato perfectly frozen inside the pozzetti for hours ready to serve to you. The vintage design perfectly complements any wedding.

We currently have 7 carts in the following options:

• Katerina 
• Slim – red or gold trim
• Large 

If you want a specific cart we encourage you to book early as they often book out, and we can’t guarantee a certain style of cart will be available for your event.  

We only charge a fee for events that are outside of our Melbourne Metro map. Please get in touch with us for the price of travel to your location.

Unfortunately, we can’t compete on price with some of the smaller competitors. We are a family business with a full production facility that meets the standards of Dairy Safe Victoria. We never compromise on our ingredients, our product, and most importantly – we don’t compromise on our staff. We simply could not maintain the degree of quality both in product – nor pay our wonderful staff properly – if we were to lower our prices.

Yes there is a 50% deposit to secure your booking upfront, with the rest due 2 weeks prior to your event.

Our general policy is that if you cancel more than 3 months before your event, we’ll return your deposit to you minus an $80 administration fee. You are welcome to reschedule your booking up to 3 times before charges may apply.

Yes, given the difficult circumstances around COVID-19 we think it’s wise to plan ahead and be as flexible as we can. In the event of a snap lockdown, or if you or your partner are required to isolate, we’ll refund the whole balance if it’s more than 48hrs before your event. If it’s less than 48hrs before your event, we’ll retain the 50% deposit to cover staff, preparation and administrative costs. Thank you for understanding.

For our full terms and conditions please click here .