Sweet Treats In and Around Seattle

[ColleenD]

I just had a fantastic "gelato" at Mora's Ice Creamery on Bainbridge Island--they call it ice cream, but it is made with milk and has the creamy, dense texture of gelato with a great concentrated flavor. It was so creamy and delicious and the flavor list was amazing. I had Mexican Chocolate and dulce de leche with a dulce de leche swirl. I was surprised that this place hasn't gotten any play on the forum. It's a little pricey (~$6 for 8oz). I thought it was at least as good as Capogiro in Philadelphia (where I am from), which has been my gold standard for US gelato. I'm pretty sure that I still would have thought it was amazing even if it hadn't been the most gorgeous day and I hadn't been feeling so buoyant from being out of an all day meeting in a windowless room!

The trip to Bainbridge and the Mora's, followed by a delicious dinner at Dahlia Lounge (don't you always have dessert before AND after dinner?...had to have the donuts at Dahlia..yum!) was a great end to my 4 days in Seattle.

Along the way I also had a few cupcakes--I liked the devil's food with vanilla icing at Trophy the best--more so than the choc/vanilla version at Cupcake Royale, which was still good. And I should probably add that the salted caramels at Fran's were pretty darn good, too!

[lalala]

I  I thought it was at least as good as Capogiro in Philadelphia (where I am from), which has been my gold standard for US gelato. 

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I'm in Philadelphia in September for a half marathon and other than Morimotos for dinner, I have told my friend that I cannot leave Philadelphia without a trip to capogiro and elvez.

Yum.

I have found no equal in the US either.

lalala

[kiliki]

Mora also has a location in Bellevue Square, and I've been meaning to try it, but there is the whole hurdle of not just going to the suburbs but going to a giant mall in the suburbs. On the occasions I do have dinner on the eastside the mall is closed by the time I am done. I think most of us just don't get to Bainbridge Island that often, either, which is why you don't hear about it as much as you might if it was in downtown Seattle.

[beauxbrie]

lalala, would like to hear how you like Morimoto's. Hubby had wanted to make a trip out there for his birthday a couple of years ago, but we bought a new house instead...

But, it is still not off the radar as a possibility. We were in NYC this spring and opted for Masa (which was fabulous) over Morimotos, but with the added temptation of great gelato, the Philly location could still win out....

As for Mora, I live in the dreaded suburbs, and still try to avoid Bellevue Square as much as possible. That being said, however, a friend on Bainbridge had told me that this was great ice cream, so I had ice cream on the mind, not gelato (which I prefer). I'll have to try it next time I'm at the mall (although that could be a while). I was thinking--do they carry it at Whole Foods? I thought I've seen it in a store.

[klsalas]

I am interested in what you all think of other gelato in Seattle.

I have been to Bottega Italiano and Gelatiamo. I felt both were comparable to gelato I have had in Italy.

Going slightly off topic, what Seattle does not seem to have much of, that is prevalent in Philly, where I also lived for some time is water ice. Rita's locations were ubiquitous (but good) though I really enjoyed Rocco's in S.Philly.

BTW Divino in Ballard, though a wine bar by initial design, has ramped up their food and now serves a bona fide Italian menu marked by some excellent pastas. Re: sweets, I was surprised that they are now selling housemade gelato at the Ballard Sunday farmer's market. I also had one of the finest cannolis there since having access to Termini Bro in Philly.

In other sweets news I need to make a trip to West Seattle. I have been under the strongly held conviction that Cafe Besalu has the best pain au chocolate in the city (if not the world as I have had none better). However I was reading in the last Seattle Met. Magazine that William Leaman of Bakery Nouveau in West Seattle won the CHAMPION DU MONDE de la BOULANGERIE. It looks like that was in 2005 and may have been for bread.

-K

[kieran]

I lived in Philly for 10 years before moving to Seattle for the last 5. My husband's family is still in Philadelphia so we're back at least once a year. It's true that Capogiro has great stuff, better (to me) than any gelato I've found out here. Then again, Italian food in general is better in Philadelphia -- as a born and bred east coaster, it's one of the things I really miss about culinary life now that I'm living on the west coast. On the other hand, Philadelphia doesn't have anything like the Japanese food that's over all Seattle -- Morimoto can't hold a candle to Nishino imo -- so I guess this is one of the nice things about travel and moving around.

lalala, is it the Philadelphia Distance Run that you're doing? That was my first ever half-marathon and it's really a great race. Definitely a good way to see some nice parts of Philly. It also attracts some world-class runners. It's kind of cool having been in the same race field as Catherine Ndereba even if I finished 45 minutes after she did.