WINNER OF GELATO FESTIVAL BOSTON IS…
Olive Oil and Strawberry Salad
by Fabrizio Fenu of I Fenu in Boston, MA
Second Place: Floridian Cream by Ezequiel Gomez,
Gelato Gourmet in Weston, FL
Third Place: Dolce Carlotta by Carlotta Cattani,
Il Gelato di Carlotta in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
Please find photographs from this weekend: link and generic photographs of Gelato Festival America: link
Gelato Festival America, now in its third year, celebrated its first Boston edition this weekend at Boylston Plaza presented by Eataly Boston. The mission of Gelato Festival America is to spread the culture of artisanal gelato throughout the United States by holding events in four cities this summer. The winner of the contest for best flavor at this Festival was Olive Oil and Strawberry Salad, presented by Fabrizio Fenu from I Fenu in Boston, MA. Other prizewinners included Ezekiel Gomez of Weston, FL and Carlotta Cattani of Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON.
– 1st place winner of the Boston festival, Fabrizio Fenu (Instagram: @ifenugelateriapasticceria), received a beautiful medal by Florentine goldsmith Paolo Penko, presented by PreGel, the official supplier of gelato ingredients for Gelato Festival America. The Olive Oil and Strawberry Salad flavor was a hit with the Public Jury, composed of ticket-holding guests, as well as the Technical Jury of 12 professional judges. Fenu describes his winning flavor as a, “Ghermanu organic extra virgin olive oil gelato and strawberry salad flavored with Modena balsamic vinegar”.
– Second place went to Floridian Cream, a tasty creation incorporating the flavors and textures of a Twix candy bar, by Ezequiel Gomez (Instagram: @gelatogourmet) of Gelato Gourmet in Weston, FL.
– Third place went to Dolce Carlotta, a custard gelato blended with hazelnuts from Piemonte, pure cocoa, milk and cream, by Carlotta Cattani (Instagram: @ilgelatodicarlotta) of Il Gelato di Carlotta in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON.
Held in collaboration with strategic partners Carpigiani Frozen Dessert University and Sigep – Italian Exhibition Group, Global Partner Air Italy, Main Sponsors PreGel and WhyGelato.com, and Technical Sponsor ISA, Gelato Festival Boston 2019 has produced a winner to continue the competition and enter a flavor in Gelato Festival American Final 2020. It’s the World Cup of gelato, a journey with hundreds of trials and thousands of flavors over four years on five continents! The Boston artisans created and served ore than two tons of gelato to thousands of guests over this weekend in at Boylston Plaza using cups by Packaging Sponsor Stanpac.
Special Mentions:
– Technical Jury: Parsley Gelato, accented with toasted meringue and lemon curd, by Meaghan Thompson of SRV in Boston, MA. The Technical Jury prize is awarded to the professional judging panel’s favorite flavor (with no consideration given to the popular vote by all ticket-holding guests). Each gelato is judged based on presentation, flavor, structure, creativity, and articulation.
– Popular Jury: Blueberry Raspberry Lavender Delight, a refreshing seasonal sorbet highlighting summer berries with notes of delicate lavender, by Melanie Wolf of Pompelmo Gelateria in Westerly, RI. The Popular Jury prize is awarded to the flavor that was preferred by the general admission guests (not counting the professional judging panel).
Winners of the other prizes:
– The Gela-to-go Award: Cannoli, a flavor inspired by the Italian classic dessert with chocolate chips and cinnamon, by Robert Sigona of Gelotti in Montclair, NJ. The recipient of the Gela-to-go Special Mention Certificate was the chef who sold the most gelato.
– Kids Jury by Loacker: Blueberry Raspberry Lavender Delight, a refreshing seasonal sorbet highlighting summer berries with notes of delicate lavender, by Melanie Wolf of Pompelmo Gelateria in Westerly, RI. Little jurors, both pre-selected and among the little guests of the Festival, tasted all the flavors which was each paired with a chef’s choice of a Loacker wafer, and then selected their favorite.
– Speed Cup Race by ISA: Ezekiel Gomez of Gelato Gourmet in Weston, FL served the most perfect cups of gelato in Boston, five. There was a six-way tie for second place, but Meghan Thompson and Carlotta Cattani claimed second and third place in the runoff. The top three each received an award to commemorate their placement. Sponsored by ISA, Speed Cup Race is about speed and the art of using the spatula to fill cups in the traditional Italian way. Each Gelato chef has 30 seconds to serve as many perfect servings of Gelato as possible.
– Stack It High by PreGel: Ezekiel Gomez of Gelato Gourmet in Weston, FL stacked 20 scoops of gelato into a single cup to win the challenge and take home the Golden PreGel Scooper. Sponsored by PreGel, each Gelato Chef was given 30 seconds to stack as many scoops of gelato as possible into a cup.
This weekend was the culmination of a fantastic first Boston Gelato Festival presented by Eataly Boston where thousands of people enjoyed authentic Italian gelato and voted for their favorites. Guests enjoyed demonstrations, contests and games, ceremonies and most importantly, tasting the artisanal gelato.