The secret of truly great gelati: make it fresh every day on-site in small batches. No pastes, no additives, just all-natural ingredients. This is the ethos behind Pidapipó, one of our favourite artisan gelaterie in Melbourne. And last year it opened a new outlet in Degraves Street.
Pidapipó started off in Lygon Street (of course), with a second outlet in Windsor, where we have enjoyed more than just a few gelati over the past couple of years.
Time for us to check out behind the circular window of Pidapipó CBD. An arched mirror on the back wall opens up the small space, but the narrow gelateria has room for only a handful of stools. When customers are stacked up at the counter the place seems a bit cramped.
It was a hot day. A queue gradually extended down Degraves Street as more and more people lined up for their gelati. Two servers were furiously scooping as more gelati was being churned to fill the rapidly emptying pozzetti. No time for banter with the servers or for indecision over flavours.
The gelati – stored in lidded pozzetti to retain freshness – is served in cones, cups or tubs to take away. Nutella is on tap. Or top your gelati with amarena cherry or whipped cream. The gelati menu changes regularly, taking advantage of seasonal ingredients. Around 20 flavours are available, including dairy and non-dairy options. Unfortunately a few flavours had sold out.
Watching the servers, we could see that all the flavours had that gorgeous elastic texture of great gelati. Those skilled servers twirled and swirled peaks of gelati onto cones and into cups.
A hot day calls for summery flavours. Benny’s choice: coconut gelato, paired with a refreshing watermelon sorbetto. A zingy passionfruit sorbetto was my pick, contrasted with a hazelnut gelato.
Just perfect.
Authentic Italian-style gelati, made the traditional way from scratch using all-natural ingredients. Outstanding, but be prepared to queue at peak times.
Pidapipó CBD
8 Degraves Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
T: (03) 9347 4596
W: pidapipo.com
