by Jimmy Boegle The new year is but a week away—which means all of those resolutions will soon go into effect. In order to help you enjoy your final week of gluttony before the diets begin, Chow decided to do quick mini-reviews of four sweets-selling businesses in the midtown area. Enjoy while you can!
2485 N. Swan Road, No. 141 393-3396, THE LOWDOWN: This café has two claims to fame: Tasty gelato, and coffee from Caffe Luce, which produces some of Tucson's best joe. Both those fame claims have merit. Garrett and I walked in and were immediately confronted with more than two dozen gelato offerings. The friendly and helpful server said we could sample as many as we wanted; I ultimately chose a child's-size cup (3.5 ounces for $3.29) of the stracciatella (chocolate-chip gelato); Garrett picked the chocolate peanut butter gelato. Both were splendid. I also ordered a latte. It took a while for the server to make it, but that's because he was taking his time, and doing it right. That works for me. I also sampled the house-made almond biscotti (various flavors are available; one piece for 50 cents, three for $1.25). The pieces were solid enough to stand up to dipping, but soft enough to enjoy eating dry. PLUSES: This is a place where I could truly hang out, with plenty of tables and chairs (some of which are rather comfortable) and cool modern lamps; music (more on this later) from a radio is played at an appropriate level. Plus, as I mentioned, the coffee and gelato are mighty fine. MINUSES: After perusing the Web site, which says the café opens every day at 11, we showed up on a Sunday at 1 p.m.—only to find a sign saying that the café now doesn't open until 3 p.m. on Sunday. How hard is it to update a Web site? And that aforementioned music was ... Christian pop, complements of "K-LOVE" 88.1. THE VERDICT: I like this place. Not sure about that music, though. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IIIIIssue date: 4/29/09
December 24, 2009Just Desserts
Looking to splurge on sweets before all of your new year's resolutions kick in?
Café Italiano
Cafe Italiano is "The New Kid in Town". But in just a few short weeks we have already made a strong impression on the community of Tucson. See below for our favorite review so far...
Warm days cool gelato
By: Steven Kwan
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: WildLife
As the balmy weather settles into
Why choose gelato over ice cream? Its flavor is more intense than ice cream, which is due to how gelato is made.
Two factors affect the flavor of gelato: density and lower milkfat (or butterfat) content. There's less air in gelato than ice cream - 25-30 percent versus up to 50 percent by volume in ice cream.
The rich flavor of ice cream depends on its fat content. Ice cream, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, must have at least "20 percent total milk solids, constituted of not less than 10 percent milkfat." So-called super premium ice creams like Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's have at least 16 percent fat.
On the other hand, gelato can have anywhere from 3-7 percent fat, depending on the recipe. With less fat in it, gelato requires more of the star ingredient to provide the flavor.
So where can you find great gelato in
Café Italiano
2485 N. Swan Rd.
Suite #141
(520) 393-3396
Formerly called Fratelli Gelato, this gelateria at the northwest corner of
The best
A tie between Frost and Café Italiano. Frost offers a futuristic atmosphere in which it serves its traditional gelato, but the interchangeable staff is often no more than just competent in its service and knowledge. Yet it offers what is arguably the best gelato in
