June 30, 2011

Gino’s Handmade Italian Gelato – Fresh Dairy Free Gelato

The new kid on the block is Gino’s Handmade Italian Gelato which can be found right in the middle of the bustle of Grafton Street, Dublin 2. This company is a little bit of a mystery to me and the girls in the shop didn’t have an amazing amount of English so I have been left less than 100% about the food allergy situation.

I will keep this short and promise to report back when I can suss out more secure answers! From what I can gather there are two soya based gelati in store which are suspected to be dairy free. My sister had the vanilla last week and reported that it was amazing (she also didn’t have an allergic reaction so this is a positive to its dairy free quality!). The girls in the shop told me that the hazelnut is also made with soya – happy days! My sister subsequently reported that the hazelnut tastes divine, but vanilla (her all-time favourite) still reigns. I am also confident that the hazelnut is Dairy free because there has been no reaction to date and when I was in the shop a customer ordered regular hazelnut which the server took from a different tub… feeling confident yet? Hmmm...


Anyway, After a bit of confusion regarding the term ‘dairy free’ I was asking the second server, who had a better grasp on what I was looking for, if the gelati was dairy free, gluten free and/or egg free... she said yes to all (and volunteered thats it's vegetarian) after reading some tubs of ‘flavour/mix’? – Now is when I start to doubt – I wonder does the container state the information clearly in a warning label or is she looking for the exact words ‘gluten’ or ‘egg’ in the ingredient list and not thinking of derivatives… I ask if I could read the container but she doesn’t seem to understand my meaning/desire.

Next in Doubting Central, I try to find a website which might contain some clear information. I can’t find anything for the Dublin branch. I find a UK website with very different graphics, and a separate facebook page so I think that ‘Gino, The Art of Gelato’ is a separate company which a suspiciously similar name.
Back in Ireland, Gino’s advertises as ‘Homemade Italian Gelato’ which seems to suggest traditional methods...
I continue to comb through the web only to find that traditional ‘yellow’ toned gelato contains egg yolks as it is made with a custard base and while we’re talking traditional recipes, there is also usually butterfat included... hmmmm.

Finally, just for added frustration, the Dublin Gino’s facebook page lists the website: www.ginosicecream.com but it doesn’t seem to exist! If you search further on the facebook page it will bring you to www.ginosgelato.com … at last... however, the flavours link isn’t working – one break is all I ask for! Lol!

So the temporary verdict is two amazing Dairy free flavours based on the fact that they are both made with soya and my dairy free sister did not experience a reaction.
I have emailed the company and hope to get a solid answer in return and, of course, I will update you as soon as possible!


Gino’s Homemade Italian Gelato
34B Grafton Street
Dublin 1
tel: (01) 201 1703
web: www.ginosgelato.com
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ginosgelato

5 comments:

Peadar said...

Wow! I was looking at that place on Saturday, but thought, "nah", it'll never be dairy free...

Aoife said...

Oooh I just stumbled on your website while on the very same mission to find this out! Stumbling blocks a go-go. Very glad I ended up here though, gonna have a good mosey around now! Keep us posted on the company response.

Anonymous said...

Hi all. Ginos offers different types of products. Some are made with no milk, others are soya based. The sorbets are made using water, but taste smooth like Gelato. Our problem is we are cautious about answers we give to people about products because the same machines are used to make all products, so technically there could accidentally be a trace amount of milk, sugar, or nuts in any of the servings. I apologize for our lack of information on all of this but we are at the early stages of the opening of this shop. Our staff need to be trained. I will commit to having better information available on our web site in the next two weeks. I will also focus our attention on providing some beautiful soya based products and coming soon is a gelato suitable for diabetics. Thanks for your support

Aurea@Survival Guide said...

Thank you for your comments and thanks to Gino's for commenting too to clear any confusion! I posted your response today (July 4th) for anyone who didn't happen to see your comment.
Thanks again! and I look forward to your updated website :)

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