This year I celebrated an important event: I helped a gelato parlor for the 150th time!
I have seen so many people pass by: there are those who take the basic course and then lose themselves on the street by putting aside art as they say, those who do the courses and make good and natural gelato at home, perhaps with the mint of the vegetable garden or the eggs of the neighbor, those who do the courses for personal interest or because it fascinates this world or uses the contents learned in other areas that can for example be eaten with gourmet gelato.
Then there are those who arrive in fund of the complete course which consists in the attendance of the basic course, the advanced course, possibly some specialization course and free internship, and opens the gelato parlor! Still there are those who prefer to open it on their own and there are those who want to be on the safe side and want to be followed step by step to start off on the right foot, like 150 people have done so far, including at the beginning of the month Alice in Lisbon!
But before I talk about her, I want to explain to you better what the opening-up support is. For example, I give advice on the layout of the venue and on the equipment and the choice of the location. We spread the menu of the most suitable tastes together and the recipes are re-adjusted, which however always change slightly from case to case, to obtain a homogeneous consistency between the various flavors. I send a first shopping list with a selection of raw materials, and I am of course always available for any questions or advice. It is important not to neglect the marketing discourse for right market positioning right away! This part is managed by my wife Brigitte, who has been dedicating herself to this for some time and is obviously always up to date on the latest fashions and the general trend of social media that are indispensable for publicizing a new opening in time!
Arriving near the fateful date, three days before the opening I go to the site to set up the machines and then work begins just for the real gelato which must be flawless! People will try the gelato of the new parlor for the first time and must be struck by perfection and 100% natural taste!
So we prepare all the ingredients starting from the roasting of pistachios and hazelnuts to make the pastas, and going from crumble, jams and other toppings we finally come to make real gelato just a few hours before opening.
Alice did the basic course, the advanced and the natural granite course in our school in February and opened her local “Alice gelato wonderland” on July 9th of the same year!
She already has a lot of experience in the world of ice cream, in fact she was in Germany for 11 years and worked in an ice cream shop. Moreover, now that she is back in Lisbon, she also runs several bars scattered around the city. Among the recipes of his menu we find for example the arroz con leche so beloved in Lisbon, the taste of acai superfood with banana and dates without added sugar, Zabaione with muscatel and, a favorite among the tastes offered a luscious and fresh mascarpone with sauce of passion fruit and meringues.
On the occasion of this important opening we introduced a novelty that was very much appreciated: A cone-shaped natural wood totem as a souvenir and a wish for opening!
Best wishes to Alice for a really successful gelato shop and a bright future as an independent and free gelato maker!
