Gelateria Romana dal 1947

Review

And all wood, it turns to ice

Photo: Heribert Corn Josef Fischer comes from Tyrol, Georg Grün from Carinthia, both made and make in aluminum and wood. And both gentlemen have been wearing gray aprons for a week, have a gray cap on their heads and make gelato. No, not a case of social relegation and an example of the hostile entrepreneurial climate in Austria, but something the two have wanted to do for two years: Georg Grün had a meeting with a business partner on Lake Garda, after which he was in the mood for a good ice cream and the Italian sent him to a place called Gelateria La Romana dal 1947, where the Carinthian then had a spontaneous ice cream awakening. Okay, the two of them got in touch with the Italian family who founded the chain in Rimini and had already opened around 40 franchise branches, mainly in Italy. They learned how to make ice cream in the flagship store, then initially looked for a location in Klagenfurt for a flagship store in the German-speaking region, but then decided on Vienna - and here for the recently closed designer florist in Stiftgasse. The Italian architect came in and turned the flower store into a location in a mix of historical merchant's store and beautiful living, with an indoor terrace, a small courtyard garden and lots of posters, on which the company's philosophy can be read verbatim. This is essentially based on remaining true to tradition, but above all on producing continuously. "With us, an ice cream is never more than two to three hours old," says Georg Grün, adding that the pozzetti are also special, namely closed gelato containers in which the ice cream only has to be cooled to minus eight to minus twelve degrees Celsius, not minus 25, which of course has an effect on the creaminess. For the time being, 24 different varieties are available, mainly traditional Italian milk and nut varieties, four yoghurt ice creams and a handful of fruit ice creams, which change depending on what is on offer. Liquid chocolate is poured into the stanitzels before they are filled, if desired; the stanitzels are in a paper cone. The cakes, which are very popular in Italy, are due to arrive in the fall. Muffins, tiramisu, zabaglione and crêpes are already available; the latter are prepared on the counter and folded on a pretty wooden board, but are somehow doughy and quickly become tough in combination with the ice cream filling.
A test of the reference varieties revealed: pistachio is creamy, good, naturally brown and finely roasted, strawberry is not in the domestic top league, crema di nocciola is great, but very sweet, hazelnut is served with roasted almonds in chocolate sauce and is still great. Still, it's quite conservative, the current Viennese ice cream wave looks a bit different. Summary: The first branch of an Italian upmarket gelateria - with good products for the more conservative gelato palate. Gelateria Romana dal 1947 7., Stiftg. 16-18 daily 11am-2pm

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