Piccolina Gelateria serves up authentic Italian gelato to Hawthorn’s Glenferrie Rd shoppers with a whole bank of glistening pozzetti tubs.
The small shop is designed by Hecker Guthrie and painted into eye-catching geometric shades of marine blue offset by white and blond wood furniture.
I particularly like the clever lo-fi use of paper posters to advertise their gelato flavours and tell the story of what makes their gelato so special.
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The store is a family business and owned by Italians, with secret family recipes being used to make the granitas, sorbets and gelati on site using real ingredients and traditional methods.
They proudly advertise that their gelati uses no premixes, preservatives, artificial flavours and colours or thickeners. That’s why it’s light coloured, doesn’t stand up high and needs to be kept in pozzetti due to its short shelf life.
I try one of their staple flavours, hazelnut, and their version is creamy and nutty without any trace of chunky nuts (which is a personal preference). Their best-selling flavour is salted caramel which I find too sweet for my palate – you need to really want it to eat a whole scoop of it. They also offer vegan gelato which was a temporary experiment extended to a permanent menu fixture after customer demand.
Note that their pricing is a bit higher than other good quality gelaterias in Melbourne – a single scoop is $5.80 whereas most places start at $4.50. A double scoop is only $1 more so maybe it’s just a smart marketing move to encourage customers to go the extra calories! They have a kids cone for $4.80 which is pretty generous.
Piccolina Gelateria makes it into my list for where to Melbourne’s best ice cream and gelato and now there’s finally an entrant representing the Eastern suburbs. They also have stores in Collingwood and St Kilda.