Chicho Gelato are an independent local gelato venture, started by creative couple Chez and Carly De Bartolo. This mad pair of foodies lived abroad in London for 4 years and travelled extensively throughout the world in search of cutting edge gelateria’s and icecream parlours to seek inspiration before returning home to Perth to send Westralian palates into a spin.
On their homebound journey, they studied at the Gelato University in Bologna to learn the true art of making gelato. Since January this year, they have been hitting the streets of Perth with their Italian gelato carts peddling their take on new wave flavours combined with the artistry of artisan gelato.
You can find Chicho Gelato at Winter Supper Club tomorrow night!
Oh hey Chicho cuties! When did you both know that gelato was your kind of romance?
We are both gelato fiends at heart. There are plenty of fond memories of us eating our way through gelato menus on the streets of Rome. We have both grown up being surrounded by incredible good food, which has now evolved into a full-bodied passion. Our time in Europe exacerbated our palates’ desire to find new flavours and culinary experiences. It also gave us the courage to reach out to our creative side and throw in the towel to the throws of ‘working for the man’.
Bada Bing, Bada Boom, we decided to follow our hearts and passion and started making Gelato.
Who in the land of sweet treats do you admire?
Well in the world of gelato it’s pretty difficult to ignore what Gelato Messina are doing in the East Coast. They are taking some bold steps with their combinations of pastry and gelato. We admire their direction but consider our gelato a less unadulterated version.
There are also some really exciting gelato chefs pushing the boundaries in Italy and the USA that we take inspiration from. There is also a gelato store in NZ called Giapo, who have created a hot gelato; it’s a chocolate and hazelnut ganache that is coated in dark chocolate which remains solid at room temperature – before serving it, they heat it at 180 degrees for 90 seconds then top it off with roasted hazelnuts. Sounds incredible!
Where can we find Chicho gelato hiding during winter?
This is our first winter and so far we haven’t really had the opportunity to hibernate! We have frequented various food events and functions that have kept us busy.
Do your flavour profiles change as the colder months have set in?
Absolutely! As our fruit sorbets are seasonal, so we tend to use more stone fruits in summer and citrus in winter. For our gelato (milk based), the flavours are pretty much year round though we have created warmer flavours such as our coffee gelato (cold brewed), 9 spice chai gelato, chestnut gelato with white chocolate and of course chocolate with salted caramel.
What are the most exciting flavours you have developed?
Recently we have created:
Lemon/Lime and Bitter sorbet,
White Chocolate with Rosewater gelato and crushed WA pistachio
Chestnut gelato with crushed chestnut and white chocolate
PAVLOVA – Fiore di Latte with smashed in-house meringue and strawberry/passionfruit coulis
HELLO PAVLOVA!
Oh and for the Truffle festival we made a Manjimup Truffle gelato (infused truffle and truffle honey)
These are just some of the flavours we have experimented with, we have a host of ingredients that we will be trialling of the next few months that will hopefully send our Chicho fans into a dizzy spell next season.
Stay churned!
Any flavours that didn't make it to the menu? I've had pig fat ice cream before and that was pretty gross!
That does sound gross! Our brother in-law is an amateur chef and he is adamant that fish sauce with lime juice / palm sugar / ginger and kaffir lime leaves could be a winner as a sorbet. We might leave this flavour on bench for the time being. Though he did suggest the Lemon/Lime Bitter sorbet, which was a hit!
Other than gelato, what will you be eating at Winter Supper Club?
Can’t go past a tasty Shak Shuka…
You can find Chicho Gelato on Facebook and Instagram.