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Sunday, November 13, 2005

Gelato shocker! New top prize awarded in ice cream contest

Regular reader(s) of Il Sette Bello will no doubt recall a little competition I conducted this summer, a search for the best Italian gelato. I set an ambitious goal: to travel the length of the boot, sampling as many pistacchio/caffe cones and report a regional best, followed by the nation's best. Since the best ice cream on the planet comes from Italy, we could all safely call this year's winner the best ice cream on the planet. Does this ring a bell?

As you may recall, I crowned the best gelato of 2005 honors to Venezia. There's a tiny little gelato stand on the Lido that wowed me back in August. Well, I am here to tell you today that Venezia was stripped of the title last night. I was introduced to a new gelateria last night that was so spectacular that I am unapologetically changing the results. The new winner is -- a second drum roll, please -- Gelateria Alla Scala in the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere. The maestro, Cristian Carlostella, has concocted the richest ice cream flavors I've ever sampled. The cinnamon/pistacchio mix was a revelation, and the chocolate truffle was decadent. Bravo Maestro Cristian!

For those of you worried about the credibility of this contest -- in which I have changed the results well after the original deadline lapsed -- I have one important reminder: this is an Italian contest. Live with it.

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