Stalking the Best Gelato in Miami

[José Balido]

Gelato. For some, it's an obsession. For me, the word "cult" comes to mind. Now, before you go thinking I'm nuttier than pistachio, let me explain. It all started with my first trip to Italy back in 1987, where I learned that all I thought I knew about ice cream had been a lie. I still remember the moment of epiphany: standing at dusk outside a small gelateria artigianale in the town of Mariano Comense north of Milan, near Lake Como, with a local friend who subsequently gave up the pleasures of the flesh (not including gelato, of course) to join the priesthood.

 

I'd never been big on ice cream, having felt a faint repulsion since childhood for those three-colored "Neapolitan" concoctions in the supermarket freezer. Anticipating more of same, I took a lingual swipe at the chocolate cone in my hand, and suddenly... angels sang. I practically levitated off the ground as I discovered the light, airy, frosty, sweet, delicate work of art that had nothing to do with the hard, densely-packed, artificially flavored stuff I'd grown up on. It was love at first bite, and ever since that fateful day, I've made it my business to rate gelaterie most anywhere I go, just in case I need an urgent fix.

 

Fast-forward to yesterday afternoon in Mary Brickell Village, a new-ish shopping/entertainment/residential complex just west of Miami's Brickell financial district and currently one of the city's most hopping hoods. We'd been invited to the grand opening of Gelato Nostro (1111 SW 1st Avenue), where we found a party scene complete with live DJ that would have looked right at home across the causeway in South Beach. It was clear that this joint was trying, like others before it, to convince us that it offers the most authentic gelato in Miami, not to mention the most happening.

 

Does it?

 

Now, it wouldn't be fair for me to make a pontifical pronouncement, taste being subjective and all. But I can share with you the results of my personal, totally unscientific 5-point GRS (Gelato Rating System) to use at your own risk:

 

Taste. Utterly natural, smooth, delicately sweet without crossing the line into Sugar Hell. The pistachio tasted so honestly like pistachio nuts, so unlike the chemically flavored stuff we've been fed, that a couple of my companions thought it wasn't pistachio at all. Ditto for the coffee flavor: it was like an airy, freezy cup of the finest espresso. A definite 5 out of 5 points on my GRS scale.

 

Color. Here too Gelato Nostro excels, and Exhibit A is once again pistachio, possibly the most artificially colored ice cream flavor on the planet. Theirs is a warm nutty beige color, exactly what you'd get if you ground up pistachio nuts and made your own (can someone tell me why pistachio is usually green?). 5 out of 5, hands down.

 

Texture. This quality perhaps more than any other defines a truly fine gelato from lesser wannabes; an airy, ethereal texture, almost like a frozen mousse, that makes the angels sing in my head. Gelato Nostro ranked high on that count, but there was still a tiny touch of viscosity, a thickness that brings it just a notch below perfect (but still above some gelati I've had in the Old Country). Let's say 4 out of 5 for texture. 

 

Bottom line: Would I go back to Gelato Nostro, considering all the competitors in Miami? With a score of 4.6 on my GRS scale, the answer is a resounding "Sì!"

[Allie McCoy]

In addition, does anyone know who serves the best gelato in Philadelphia?

[Allie McCoy]

I did not discover gelato until I was in my 40s. Now I am trying to make up for lost time!