Melanie's Gelato Rankings

Again, sorry for the delay. I've been busy passing semester #5 of law school. I'm still working on one paper, actually. It's due "on Christmas Eve, sometime before Santa comes." Way to ruin Christmas, professor. No, really. Thumbs down.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand: GELATO. I do not dispute Kday's overall rankings, so I thought I'd break things down for you by flavor.

First, however, I do have to restate that Angelato is the overall winner by approximately a million miles. I can't wait to go back. Athans was the clear loser, despite the fact that their drinks and seating and spinach pastry thingies have helped me to pass 4 semesters of finals (we're still crossing our fingers on this 5th semester, but Athans helped this time too).

Here it goes: Gelato rankings by flavor!


1. Chocolate: That stuff at Piattini is the runaway favorite, despite the cost. If you're looking for something less...intense (or cheaper), I would recommend Bon Bon (for a cocoa flavor) or Rita's (for classic chocolate flavor).



2. Vanilla: Definitely Gigi.



3. Hazelnut: I didn't do a great job describing the hazelnut at Gigi so I don't remember how good it was, but I just can't give the win to Cafe Paradiso (because we had to pay so much and because they hang witches near the tables). If I had to do it again, I'd try the hazelnut at Angelato, which I'm sure is delish.

4. Other: The wacky flavors at Sapori di Napoli were good (even my giant hunk of chocolate fudge was good), as were those at Angelato (obviously) and Bon Bon.

5. Ambience: Rita's has great ambience if you'd like to study or have a deep, brooding conversation with your gelato-eating mate. Bon Bon has a great ambience if you would like to feel as though Sesame Street and an M&M factory exploded in your face. The best ambience for my money, however, is the greenway near Gigis and near-ish Sapori di Napoli and Cafe Paradiso. There's no better view in Boston and the people watching is fabulous.

That's all she wrote, folks. Stay tuned for another semester of questing - until then, Merry Chrismakwanzukkah/Festivus and Happy New Year!

Gigi Gelateria: A North End Gem in a Citizen's Bank

We ventured to the North End yesterday in search of Sapori di Napoli, which for some reason (that I'm sure isn't nearly as important as our gelato quest) is closed until October 18th. Gelato fail, Sapori. We'll catch you another time.

We wandered back to Hanover Street and "settled" for Gigi Gelateria, right at the corner of Hanover Street near the Greenway. At first, we were turned off by the price - $4.95 for the only size cup they have. But then the magic hit us. First of all, the tiny little storefront is staffed by one woman and is literally carved out of a Citizen's Bank. Awkward but oh, so charming. Secondly, they let you get three flavors in a small cup. The flavor possibilities were endless. Kday tasted the pistachio (too sweet) and ultimately settled on vanilla, chocolate, and stracciatella ("white" ice cream with chocolate shavings). I chose to continue my hazelnut tradition and also chose chocolate and stracciatella to round out my cup. So much for endless flavor possibilities, but if I'm going to eat my way through Boston, I'm going to choose flavors I like.

Gigi doesn't have seating (unless you'd like to take a seat in the Citizen's Bank) so we headed straight to the greenway to eat. The gelato was smoooooth, creamy, and delightfully drippy, leading to a good deal of cup-licking (I'm looking at you, kday). Kday spilled on her pants too, but a bit of vanilla ice cream on the capris is a small price to pay for such an experience. The vanilla won out for most flavorful - lots of subtle flavors (clove? cinnamon?) overlaid by a powerful vanilla bean taste (I may not be able to sniff out things in wine, but I can do it in gelato, folks). The chocolate tasted like chocolate ice cream and less like the sinful stuff at Piattini, but the texture was great. The stracciatella was just like in Italy, although we are both a bit concerned about what kind of gelato "white" gelato is in the first place. It's not vanilla and it's not really anything else either. It was delicious nonetheless.

And look at this view: Who could ask for a more enjoyable gelato-eating experience? The spoons were small, but the gelato disappeared relatively quickly. (Eat your heart out, Athans). Despite our roundabout tour of the North End (in heels, on my part) we were both pleasantly surprised at the deliciousness that can come out of a Citizen's Bank storefront. So far, I would say that the Hazelnut and Vanilla win out at Gigi and the chocolate wins out at Piattini. We bite our thumbs at you, Athans, for advertising yourselves as a place to get good gelato and then selling gross stuff to unsuspecting law students who don't want to go downtown.

Good till the last slurp.