Capogiro Gelato

[KatieLoeb]

Just returned from having some gelato for dessert at Capogiro. They had some really interesting flavors today including Papaya sorbetto, Pineapple-Mint, Star Fruit, Cilantro-Lime and Honeysuckle.

The Pineapple-Mint was the most refreshing and delicious thing I think I've ever tasted. I had a cup with one scoop of Pineapple-Mint and one scoop of Papaya sorbetto. The papya was kind of subtle, but still very tasty. They were good as they melted together as well. Gary had a cup with Pistachio and Mexican Chocolate which is dense chocolate with cinnamon and a bit of chile in it. The heat sneaks up on you after you swallow it. But the combination of the Pistachio and Mexican Chocolate was AWESOME! One little spoon with a bit of each flavor on it was just amazing. The Pistachio kind of tamed the heat of the chile in the chocolate just enough. Yummmmmm....

Anyone else have some amazing combinations of flavors at Capogiro lately? I think we should keep this thread running all summer and just report back to each other as we try all the flavors and combinations. What do you all think?

[Andrew Fenton]

I haven't been there too recently, but the cilantro-lime truly rocks.

And you're right about the Mexican chocolate, which, like, totally blows my mind, dude. One second it's sweet, and then it's hot, and then it's, like, woooaaaaah.

[katbert]

Last night after tasty $2 martinis at bump, I had the pineapple+mint, lemon+purple basil, and the lime+cilantro (all sorbets, all fantastic). I've considered giving up my summer dining out food budget over to Capogiro but I don't have the stick-to-it-iveness.

[mrbigjas]

On Saturday I had the lemon & purple basil and the black walnut. Both good, although I don't know how well they actually went with each other; they were just what I was in the mood for. The mrs had the fior di latte and the mexican chocolate--it was like a mexican hot chocolate with whipped cream, but cold.

I also had a taste of the salted bitter almond, which wasn't that salty and tasted like almond extract to me. Not that that's bad; I was just looking for some kind of revelation and didn't get it.

[aliwaks]

oh my honeysuckle was that gelato or sorbetto? was nibbling on a honeysuckle whilst hiking (yes sometimes I remove my high heels and I hike) and was wondering how to cook with it

...hmm pay rent, develop dangerous gelato habit..quite the conundrum

[stephenc]

Do they have anything cucumber flavored yet?

[gbredben]

Was there last week after lunch at El Vez. Had a mix of tiramisu and strawberry-tequila. The tiramisu had a nice big chunk of ladyfinger and the strawberry-tequila was rather appropriate after lunch at El Vez and quite refreshing.

[ludja]

Do they have anything cucumber flavored yet?

Bugialli has a cucumber dessert in his book, "Foods of Tuscany".

It consists of peeled, thinly sliced cukes in a bowl with lemon juice and sugar sprinkled over. Cover, and store w/o mixing in the fridge for at least 2 hrs before serving...

I've always been intrigued by the photos of the dish---looks and sounds like it would be extremely refreshing.

(He calls it a 'humble' dessert and recommends seeking out very small cukes with few seeds).

I would love to try the honeysuckle...

The store was closed for the few days I was in Philly over the holidays. For now, I have to live vicariously through your alls descriptions--and maybe try to recreate some of them at home.

[rlibkind]

Do they have anything cucumber flavored yet?

Marcus Samuelsson does one at Aquavit: cucumber sorbet, which makes a great intermezzo. Let's see if he puts in on the menu at Washington Square. (Doubtful.)

[arice]

katie,

i have to agree that the pineapple mint was really amazing... just when you think the mint is about to overpower, the flavors just meld together. my husband picked this winner.... quite awesome.

i had the chocolate banana which was just my speed, yum!

[KatieLoeb]

katie,

i have to agree that the pineapple mint was really amazing... just when you think the mint is about to overpower, the flavors just meld together. my husband picked this winner.... quite awesome.

i had the chocolate banana which was just my speed, yum!

I absolutely that Pineapple-Mint. I'm working on a new brunch cocktail for here at Rouge that incorporates those flavors. It'll be sorta like a Pineapple-Mint Mimosa. My experiments thusfar have been quite tasty!

[chowfun]

I hope this reply doesnt come up twice. I already tried once.

Last weekend my husband and I were at Capogiro. I enjoyed my bing cherry and queen anne cherry combination, they each tasted like fresh cherries. My husband picked the winners, though. The pineapple mint was very good, strong spearmint flavor. The grapefruit campari was by far the best flavor I have had at Capogiro. I couldnt taste the campari, but the grapefruit flavor was delicious.

[katbert]

summer fireworks,

rosemary & goat's milk with

creamy marscarpone

mmmm. kt

Edited July 3, 2004 by katbert (log)

[mrbigjas]

I hope this reply doesnt come up twice. I already tried once.

Last weekend my husband and I were at Capogiro. I enjoyed my bing cherry and queen anne cherry combination, they each tasted like fresh cherries. My husband picked the winners, though. The pineapple mint was very good, strong spearmint flavor. The grapefruit campari was by far the best flavor I have had at Capogiro. I couldnt taste the campari, but the grapefruit flavor was delicious.

I had that grapefruit/campari flavor today. Man oh man was that good. Put me in the mood for summer cocktails.

[Holly Moore]

I had that grapefruit/campari flavor today. Man oh man was that good. Put me in the mood for summer cocktails.

Me too. Wanted to go back for seconds.

[TarteTatin]

We are HUGE Capogiro fans, love every single one of the great flavors recently listed.

So, we were in the West Village yesterday, and tried Cones for the second time on Bleeker St.

It was pretty good. Between us we had:

Almond cream, Pistachio, Chocolate Sorbet and Dark Chocolate.

It's also artisinal icecream making. (not Gelato)

Philly SOOOOOO surpasses this at Capogiro!

The flavors are much more interesting.

The flavors are more flavorful.

The texture is finer.

...and, Capogiro has a bathroom! Cones does not!

:)

[mrbigjas]

Today's selections: strawberry with pernod, and lancaster county sugar plum. If you haven't had these plums, go to any of the lancaster county farmers--they're an early variety that has been around for a couple weeks now, although they're starting to be taken over by the yellow plums now. These are both sorbettos (sorbetti?). Go get them now. now!

[katbert]

Bourbon butterscotch, marscarpone fig with big chunks of fresh fig. Someone found the yellow watermelon to be like watermelon+lots of sugary sweetness almost squashlike. Also elderberry. There are also at least two La Columbe combinations but I didn't try them. We've been considering buying 2pints at a time b/c it would be more cost effective ($18) but would we get flavor burnout? Maybe, but it wouldn't stop us from finishing it all.

[cdh]

Hmmm... does Capogiro sell dry ice or other travel facilitation substances? I'd love to be able to buy some and bring it away from town... but living an hour's drive from center city makes that tough.

I recall noting that Bassett's in the Reading Terminal has dry ice listed on their board... do they regularly keep it around, or is it a special order item?

Edited August 28, 2004 by cdh (log)

[Holly Moore]

Don't know about Caporgio, but Bassett's does have dry ice on hand.

[cdh]

yee hah! I think Bassett's is going to make a dry ice sale today. And Capogiro is going to sell a couple of pints of something interesting.

Edited August 28, 2004 by cdh (log)

[john b]

yee hah! I think Bassett's is going to make a dry ice sale today. And Capogiro is going to sell a couple of pints of something interesting.

Buy a pint of Bassett's, have it packed in dry ice, and eat it on the way to Capogiro. That's what I'd do.

[TarteTatin]

Blackberry, so fresh tasting.

Chocolate banana was subtle and creamy.

The typical but hard to stay away from Dulce De Leche, yum!

Just the other night.

Sesame Ginger that someone in my party had was good!

As was the Coconut, Mascarpone Fig, Niccoleta (sp) -the hazelnut one....

They did get a little testy (for the first time) with our party taking a long time to decide when they were busy. We understand, but we brought newbies and they were so thrilled! There was one very patient French girl there for a long time that went home. Darn.

[cdh]

The gelato transportation mission worked out quite well this weekend... though not exactly as planned.

On Saturday picked up a few pounds of dry ice from Bassett's, as well as a cup of their fine ice cream. Wandered down to Capogiro and picked up two pints of ambrosial gelato, put dry ice and gelato into cooler and drove the hour home.

Even in my freezer, the dry ice had evaporated to nothing by the morning... what to do?

So I picked up a bag of ice from a convenience store, threw a handful of driveway salt onto it, packed the gelato into ziploc freezer bags and submerged them into the briney slush. Worked like a champ. Managed to freeze solid the 6 liters of beer that were sharing space in the cooler, and the ice had largely maintained its solidity even after a two and a half hour drive to the far wilds of northwest NJ.

Now I know that dry ice is just not necessary for long haul gelato delivery missions.

Wonder if Capogiro can be convinced to stock ice and driveway salt... much easier to handle than dry ice.

[Holly Moore]

So I picked up a bag of ice from a convenience store, threw a handful of driveway salt onto it, packed the gelato into ziploc freezer bags and submerged them into the briney slush. Worked like a champ. Managed to freeze solid the 6 liters of beer that were sharing space in the cooler, and the ice had largely maintained its solidity even after a two and a half hour drive to the far wilds of northwest NJ.

Aren't you glad you paid attention in high school chemistry class, or would that be physics?