I still dream about Buonocore gelato

Close your eyes and imagine that delicious smell of waffles being made. In this case, a waffle cone. Breathe in, deeply. Mmmmm…

That’s exactly what hit me in the face as I walked down via Vittorio Emanuele in Capri a couple weeks back. Obviously I had no choice but to stop at Buonocre gelateria, the source of that amazing smell and a full range of creamy, indulgent gelato flavors. From which I chose stracciatella and tiramisu.

And when they placed my cone in my hand?

It was still warm. Imagine, a warm waffle cone with cool, creamy, beyond-amazing gelato. The stuff that dreams are made of.
The next day I went back and tried toasted almond and chocolette (a chocolate and hazelnut combo—every bit as amazing as it sounds, though the toasted almond smoked it).

And the day after that, I sampled gianduja and cherry vanilla.

It was with such memories in my head that I dragged Jo to Caramella, a petit ice cream shop on rue des Martyrs that I’ve always wanted to go to.

Maybe it’s unfair to have finally visited this “modern ice creamery” when Buonocore was still tickling my taste buds. For it was good, but not great. I had salted caramel and noissette—two flavors that never fail to make me shimmy in appreciation. But it just wasn’t as rich or creamy or mind-blowing as the Italian gelato.

Which begs the standard issue question: what is the difference between ice cream and gelato??

For one thing, the machines that make gelato churn slower so there is less air pumped in the mixture. Thus its denser, creamier, more heavenly texture.

And the recipes usually include more egg yolks, more milk and less cream… so gelato, incredibly, has fewer calories than ice cream.

So until I find a suitable gelato fix in Paris, my daily cono piccolo in Capri still has me dreaming.

47 rue Martyrs