GROM - New Artisinal Gelateria

[JosephB]

GROM is an artisinal gelateria from Turin that is set to open this spring on Broadway and 76th Street. Grom's website states that its production is centralized to maintain the quality of the product and the uniqueness of the flavors. Some of GROM's flavors are made with ingredients that are on Slow Food's Ark of Taste, including Huehuetenango coffee, Bronte pistachio and Ciaculli mandarin.

[docsconz]

Looks very promising. Any idea when they are likely to open in the spring? We'll have to try some. I can think of a little girl who is likely going to be very happy with this development.

[Andrew Fenton]

If it's as good as the GROM in Florence, you're in for a treat. That's good stuff.

[Sethro]

That sounds super-great!

[Andrew Fenton]

(Though I wonder to what extent shipping gelato for thousands of miles overseas hurts the quality. Seems like the best stuff is usually made fresh daily.)

[larrylee]

(Though I wonder to what extent shipping gelato for thousands of miles overseas hurts the quality.  Seems like the best stuff is usually made fresh daily.)

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Hmm, good point. Here's hoping they'll make the stuff locally.

[JosephB]

Looks very promising. Any idea when they are likely to open in the spring? We'll have to try some. I can think of a little girl who is likely going to be very happy with this development.

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The sign on the buiding states that the opening is in April, 2007. We're looking forward to it. It's two doors over from Beard Papa, the Japanese choux place.

[docsconz]

Looks very promising. Any idea when they are likely to open in the spring? We'll have to try some. I can think of a little girl who is likely going to be very happy with this development.

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The sign on the buiding states that the opening is in April, 2007. We're looking forward to it. It's two doors over from Beard Papa, the Japanese choux place.

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Might make for a tough choice.

[hshiau]

The sign on the buiding states that the opening is in April, 2007.  We're looking forward to it.  It's two doors over from Beard Papa, the Japanese choux place.

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Might make for a tough choice.

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Sounds like an easy decision...BOTH!

[JosephB]

GROM looks like it's ready to open any day.

Indeed, their website now projects a May 5th opening.

[Fat Guy]

(Though I wonder to what extent shipping gelato for thousands of miles overseas hurts the quality.  Seems like the best stuff is usually made fresh daily.)

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I believe the finished product is made on premises from a liquid mix that has been shipped. This is a pretty good system, allowing for laboratory-level control of the mix but fresh, on-site production. However, I think such a system can hardly be called artisanal. It's industrial. Good industrial, but industrial nonetheless.

[JosephB]

Looking for a bargain? Not intimidated by long lines?

GROM's giving away cups of gelato on Saturday, May 5th.

[Megan Blocker]

The Times has an article on GROM in the Dining section today...

Into a huge steel vat, workers had just poured several cases of $30-a-bottle Spanish sherry for one flavor, Málaga, otherwise made of milk, organic eggs and sugar. (Raisins would be added later.) Mr. Martinetti dunked a lowly plastic cup into the vat and poked his nose in as if it were a glass of his family’s Barolo.

He sniffed, then tasted. It is pretentious to say about ice cream, but maybe the best word — apart from “delicious” — would be “balanced,” with each ingredient nicely playing off the others rather than one shouting over the rest.

“It’s what I look for in wine and ice cream,” Mr. Martinetti said, shucking off any high-mindedness by noting, too, that Coke’s sweetness wouldn’t work if it weren’t balanced by citric acid.

Click!

[Megan Blocker]

I headed across town this afternoon to check out GROM...though the gelato is no longer free, the line was still pretty long...

It only took about 15 minutes to get up to the counter, where I ordered a small, half tiramisu and half zabaione. The tiramisu was good, sort of a coffee gelato with chocolate chips and lady finger bits. The zabaione was fantastic - boozy and creamy.

[JosephB]

We passed by Saturday shortly before 11:00 am on our way to the park, with no expectation that we'd get even close to tasting the ice cream. To our surprise, once the doors opened the line moved swiftly. We waited five minutes in line and were rewarded with a delicious product. Coconut and Equadorean extranoir chocolate made a great combination -- our favorite. The flavor of the month, Luna Rossa, was strawberries and cream, which was excellent. We also tried the gianduia and pistachio. Both nut ice creams are very good, but don't compare to the best nut ice creams in Sicily. There, the nut flavor is so pronounced, it seems as if the nuts were roasted fresh for each scoop.

We tried to go back on Sunday and pay our way, but the line was much longer after lunch, and seemed more bogged down by the exchange of money. The partners were hard at work behind the counter.

This is a superb product. We appreciate the small portions, which is we consider to be the perfect size. We hope to go at least once a week through the summer.

Edited May 7, 2007 by JosephB (log)

[smgarsh]

I was there yesterday afternoon and tried the lemon and the Luna Rossa. Both flavors was really good. A bit on the expensive side but I think its worth it.

I have to try Il' labortorio again to compare it against GROM.

[Megan Blocker]

This is a superb product.  We appreciate the small portions, which is we consider to be the perfect size. We hope to go at least once a week through the summer.

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The woman behind me, who kept trying to cut in front of me, was disappointed with the size. I believe her exact words to the person serving her were "This is a medium?"

I, too, like the smaller portions - they make me feel less guilty, and they allow me to savor the flavors without becoming numb to them before I'm done.

[Salli Vates]

The fior di latte was really great.

(The line was pretty frustrating! People walking by would "run into someone they knew" and then just kind of stick in line ahead of me. )

[Megan Blocker]

The fior di latte was really great.

(The line was pretty frustrating! People walking by would "run into someone they knew" and then just kind of stick in line ahead of me. )

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Like Ed from Serious Eats! I'm so glad people are giving him crap for that in the comments to his post. I mean, I understand, it's a long line, you're bored, you make your friend hold your bag and you go to Barney's Co-Op or whatever.

But, still - bumping into someone and joining them on the line? Eh.

[Salli Vates]

I saw Ed Levine's posting

I think I should have worn different shoes, or something. Also, it seemed like the majority of the "friends" showed up right when I was *finally* about to receive the promised reward!

The fior di latte was really great.

(The line was pretty frustrating! People walking by would "run into someone they knew" and then just kind of stick in line ahead of me. )

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Like Ed from Serious Eats! I'm so glad people are giving him crap for that in the comments to his post. I mean, I understand, it's a long line, you're bored, you make your friend hold your bag and you go to Barney's Co-Op or whatever.

But still bumping into someone and joining them on the line? Eh.

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[robert brown]

I had the bad racing luck of being behind a couple with three kids who put on a distasteful display of conspicuus consumption. What started out what seemed to be a normal order of the gelato for immediate eating turned into a seemingly unending orgy of ordering large containers to take home. All I wanted was to buy two medium size containers to eat at one of the tables in the back, such that what should have been a 15-minute wait in line became 25. Was it worth the wait, though? Certainly it was, given even my curmudgeonly nature and reasonably experienced gelati eating in Northern and Central Italy. I made sure to order two of my benchmark flavors, chocolate (the dark one here) and pistachio, along with yogurt and cappucinno. My wife and I agreed this was upper-echelon material, rivaled only by what you can buy at Eli's Manhattan or EAT (and for that I plan a head-to-head tasting in the near future even though it's gelato vs. ice cream and sorbet)). Grom certainly puts to shame anything else I have had in New York. The pistachio wasn't as good as that of my man Sergio in San Gimignano, for example, and my wife thought there was something added that pumped up the flavor of the dark chocolate and the cappucinno. But no matter. We're lucky to have such a treat in town. Although the gelato is expensive, you should make up the difference by laying off the highly-regulated and mainly insipid cheese up the street at Zabar's.

[tupac17616]

Stopped by this afternoon as I "studied" for finals. Sampled the vanilla (good but nothing special), gianduja (too chocolate-y for a non-chocolate-lover like myself. would've appreciated a stronger hazelnut flavor), and fior di latte (ridiculously outstanding), before buying a small half pistachio, half crema di grom. The pistachio was quite good, I thought, full of roasted nut flavor. The crema di grom didn't do much for me. The biscotti and chocolate chunks were nice for textural contrast, but I found the flavors in this a bit lacking. Next time, fior di latte for sure...

[molto e]

(Though I wonder to what extent shipping gelato for thousands of miles overseas hurts the quality.  Seems like the best stuff is usually made fresh daily.)

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I believe the finished product is made on premises from a liquid mix that has been shipped. This is a pretty good system, allowing for laboratory-level control of the mix but fresh, on-site production. However, I think such a system can hardly be called artisanal. It's industrial. Good industrial, but industrial nonetheless.

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Steven,

I agree with you completely, if the mix is pre-fabricated then it is definitely not artisanal. They serve the same gelato as the hundreds or thousands of places that buy the same pre-made base.

Molto E

[Megan Blocker]

(Though I wonder to what extent shipping gelato for thousands of miles overseas hurts the quality.  Seems like the best stuff is usually made fresh daily.)

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I believe the finished product is made on premises from a liquid mix that has been shipped. This is a pretty good system, allowing for laboratory-level control of the mix but fresh, on-site production. However, I think such a system can hardly be called artisanal. It's industrial. Good industrial, but industrial nonetheless.

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Steven,

I agree with you completely, if the mix is pre-fabricated then it is definitely not artisanal. They serve the same gelato as the hundreds or thousands of places that buy the same pre-made base.

Molto E

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I don't think it's a shared pre-made base; I think it's made by GROM in Italy for all their outlets (I think they have about 10 or 15), and shipped accordingly.

ETA: So while it's not artisanal, it's not generic, either - just clarifying my implied point.

[JohnL]

I believe that a lot of the stuff in containers contains stabilizers etc.

Guar Gum and Carageenen et al.

In fact, these things seem to impact the mouth feel and consistency of most dairy products which I find off putting.