Gelato #3 and it's a STRIKE!

Grom opened its first shop in downtown Turin in May 2003, and it was an instant success: lines 15-20 meters long in front of the shop and enthusiastic smiles encouraged the two founding partners to do even better. In January 2005, they invested in a production workshop suitable to meet the demands of the other Grom shops that opened that same year. The goal is always the same: to offer the very best. The liquid mixtures are checked by a team of experts and then distributed 3 times a week, just like fresh milk, to each shop, where they are creamed.

Grom is synonymous with gelato of the highest quality. The idea is to apply a principle common to all the best restaurants in the world to the production of handmade gelato: the purchase of raw materials of absolute top quality. It was with this purpose in mind that, at the end of 2002, Guido Martinetti and Federico Grom set out to search for, from the Langhe to Sicily, the best that agricultural Italy – and not only that – could offer. The standards are strict: only fresh and in-season fruit, coming from the best consortia in Italy, no colorings or additives that are not natural, Lurisia mountain water used as a base for sherbets and high-quality whole milk for the creams, organic eggs and selections of the best cocoas and coffees from central America.

Grom interprets gelato by following the tradition of Italian gelato makers, where fresh milk, egg yolk, white cane sugar and the best raw materials such as pistachios, hazelnuts, vanilla and many others play a leading role. A moderate use of cream allows our ice cream to always have a low fat content, likewise with the quantity of sugar used, in order to avoid cloying and non-refreshing gelato. As a result, Grom’s gelato is very suited to those who want to eat gelato low in fat (8-10%) and sugar (15-18%) but rich in precious raw materials and proteins, easy to digest and with a full and intense flavor. Gelato made in this way, using only carob flour as a very noble thickening agent, requires a longer and more difficult processing by our operators at the counter.

This was after lunch and still burdened with our backbreaking groceries. The weather was in the region of about ten degrees. But gelato? Best served cold! :)

We have officially been Grom-ed!

Torrocino (nougat), extra noir ciocolatto (extra dark chocolate), egg cream and a hazelnut.

There were too many other flavours we wish we had the stomach to try.

And then there was also hot chocolate (calda ciocolatto). This guy in front of us ordered one of that and it looked like pure, molten, unadulterated, chocolate love!

But no my stomach cannot afford that kind of richness (in fat content!) so we passed on that.

What about gelato?

Oh that's milk. Good for growth! :)

It's more expensive than your usual run-of-the-mill gelato shops but it was well worth every cent.

With stores in Japan and NY, I'll be back for more even if it isn't in the northern region of Italy.

Have you had Grom before?

day trip out to pisa!

What's your idea of Pisa?

The idea of the trip around Italy should be enough to prompt you to instinctively think about the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa of architectural magnificence.

Pisa is a serene and sleepy town. You don't need a map to get to the leaning tower. It's pretty straightforward from Pisa Centrale you walk straight past the Solferino Bridge and after another street, turn left and you can see the tower right ahead. The people walking about on the streets are all probably headed in the same direction- Towards the Piazza dei Miracoli ("Square of Miracles").

The Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. Partly paved and partly grassed, it is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo (cathedral), the Campanile (the cathedral's free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.

In 1987 the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

At 241 kilometres, this river runs through Arrezo, Ponte Vecchio in Florence and around Siena was mostly infamous for its wild floods especially one in 1966 where the raging water collapsed the embankment in Florence, killing at least 40 people and damaging and destroying millions of works of art and rare books. New conservation techniques were inspired by the disaster, but even 40 years later, these hundreds of works still await restoration.

We're almost there! :) A easy walk through the sleepy town of which I basked in its quiet and serene atmosphere till we got to the Piazza which was filled with visitors. Taking that ubiquitious shot of having to hold onto the leaning tower from all angles and in so many wacky ways. Oh if only I had a more adventurous brother. :p



We popped into a small store enroute for an energy boost.

But having had Old Bridge just yesterday, this just didn't cut it. :/

A few hours in Pisa and we bade our farewells. We've been there, done it, seen it.

And our gelato hunt continues.

italian gelato a roma

Tripadvisor scores!

On the way from St Paul's Basilica to the Sistine Chapel. You won't miss this with its queues.

For 1.60 EUR for a piccolo (small cone) with the option of up to three flavours.

Where do you find prices like these and quality like this for gelatos!

And if a picture could speak a thousand words.

Or maybe just two.

Like.

EAT THIS!

I would have died happy.
The eating part. Not the talking picture. :)

Right smack on the roads enroute to the Vatican. At EUR $1.50 for a piccolo with three flavours. What's not to like? It's a happy takeway shop with hot guys and creamy smooth gelato. How we managed with only two cones? I look back and wonder. Love it.