About a year ago, in one of my first posts, I wrote about the Valrhona Chocolate Amargo gelato that I’d enjoyed at the Georgetown location of Dolcezza, a DC-area gelato shop. It was (and is) good stuff. When Sarah said she had a gelato craving, I jumped at the opportunity to meet up with her at the Dupont Circle location.
This location is quite a bit different from the Georgetown one – a little darker on the decorating, and the gelato is in covered metal tubs instead of an inviting display case. But there is a really neat display board of the available flavors.
Tempting as it was to go with my fallback Valrhona Chocolate Amargo, I decided to be adventurous. After all, I was there to hear about Sarah’s major life plans, which may or may not involve taking over the world (she’s one spunky young woman who could do it if she wanted).
Which would be the best choice for a backdrop for a discussion on upcoming world domination? Chocolate Peanut Butter? Or Chocolate Mint Granizadao? After sampling both, I knew it was the latter.
This gelato has a strong spearmint flavor, that is fresh and, unsurprisingly, refreshing on a warm summer evening. There isn’t much chocolate here, just a bit of a light ganache woven through, and the mint flavor is dominant. I found the gelato to be thinner than my standby Valrhona gelato, and it was more watery than creamy. It was nicely flavored, but it didn’t take the place of my beloved Valrhona-based gelato.
Which I’ll be getting again.
And again.
What’s your favorite gelato flavor?
Oh nice! While I love chocolate, my favorite is the blood orange gelato, it's just so refreshing.
ReplyDeleteOh how funny! Just today I was rhapsodizing to my friend at work about all the gelato I had in Florence! I loved the pistachio, the licorice, the meringue (chocolate chips, soft cream gelato, cirspy meringue.... heaven), pear sorbet... oh take me back!
ReplyDeleteThanks, friend! Our meet up (and the gelato) was fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI need to try this! I like gelato, but never end up getting it, probably because I work right by FroZenYo. I need to make an effort to fix this soon.
ReplyDeleteWow, this sounds amazing! Unfortunately I'm not as well-versed in gelato as I'd like to be...I really must get on this!! I had some in Germany once and it was unreal - bit of ice cream cone mixed in...yum!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I never saw your blog before! A blog that just reviews chocolate - and in places close enough I could actually go to? I'm in.
ReplyDeleteAhh this sounds ao good! We dont really ever get gelato bars over here in the UK other than in London :(, extremely upsetting!
ReplyDeleteI love coffee gelato... and of course everything with chocolate in it. Too bad that flavor was only ok!
ReplyDeleteHow fun - gelato is one of the few things I miss about giving up dairy but lately I have been all about vegan coffee ice cream, which is funny because I never liked coffee gelato. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteYou know, often my knee-jerk reaction to gelato is "I'd rather have normal ice cream", but every time I cave and have some I'm reminded of how *good* it is. And Valrhona? I can only imagine how excellent that must taste. Good choice on the mint-chocolate, IMO...it truly is a winning combination (though I love me some peanut butter too...O, the choices!). Next time I'm in DC, maybe I'll seek this place out! :)
ReplyDeleteDolcezza is right across from the stand I work at the Dupont Farmers Market...so tempting! I wish they would do a chocolate sorbet...
ReplyDeleteIn high school I would go to a gelato place as often as possible because there was a cute employee there who would do the equivalent of a gelateria-based standup comedy routine. My favorite was him putting a stool on his forehead (upside down) and moving behind the counter as if he were walking down steps. Thinking about this now it seems awfully strange.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy Stracciatella and pistachio gelato flavors especially, but have been known to indulge in lavender and mango as well!
One of my favorite things about gelato is the little shovel spoon you get to eat it with. Is that weird? I need to make gelato soon, so maybe I should hoard a few of these for at home enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't what you asked, but the weirdest gelato flavor I've tried so far is durian. I knew it would be gross and the employee tried to warn me against it, but I couldn't resist!