la gelatiera

the gelato at la gelatiera is smooth and definitely much creamier than most gelato that i have eaten and there is good reason for that. la gelatiera uses jersey milk from the somerset dairy ivy house farm. monmouth aficionado's would know this milk. it's what gives their milk based coffee's like cafe au lait and flat whites their creamy and rounded edge. 

a combination of twitter and facebook have kept me informed about la gelatiera. south london based hendzel and hunt have designed the interior. there is much to love about the design especially the little sky light that lets you peek into the kitchen area below. we loved the stripes of colour on the wooden stools, crates and shelving. 

alongside the more traditional gelato flavours such as chocolate, hazelnut and crema, la gelatiera has the more unusual sorts like sweet potato and black sesame. sweet potato has a natural affinity for sweet given its caramel notes and i really loved the velvet like gelato that came from it. o thought it was too vegetable like but to me it is no more unusual than pumpkin pie or a butternut squash puree spiked with date syrup that doubles up as a hor d'oeuvre and a pudding. the black sesame had nuttiness and depth and was a lighter version of black sesame ice-cream that is traditionally served in japanese restaurants. the nutty strength of the sesame is as natural a companion for gelato as the piedmontese hazelnuts or sicilian pistachio. i must here say thank you to stephane for giving us generous tastes of these two gelato. 

i also had the ricotta e arance, the perfect combination of a ricotta cheese with candied orange peels. o had the ciccolato and mandorla, a classic combination of chocolate and almonds. it was only the mandorla (almond) gelato that suffered in flavour as it missed the fullness of almond. o says that he has had almond gelato once in rome and it had a strong almond flavour la gelatiera's almond gelato lacked. 

o and i will definitely come back to la gelatiera. i really want to try the bellini and the sea salted caramel and i suspect o will be back for his usual suspect, pistachio.