This is a Public Service Announcement.

I realize this is a bold claim, and would love to hear about any challengers here!

I've been to Italy 4 times now, and have consumed many kilos of gelato in that time (a rough estimate )

Mom and I happened across this by happy accident and it by far outshone anything we had had up to that point and even after - including Giolitti in Rome and Lo Squero in Venice. (we didn't make it to Vivoli in Florence but we did go to Grom, which our walking guide said far outshone Vivoli - near the Duomo in case you want to find it).

Drum Roll...

Gelateria l'Antica Delizia in Castellina in Chianti. Mom had the fragola and I had cioccolato con peperoncino. (you heard that right). Chocolate with chile - and the gelato in the case was a delightful creamy dark color, sprinkled with delightfully hot red chile. Creamy beyond belief. Not one tiny ice-flake (some of the gelato we had at lesser places was rather gritty for lack of a better word)

As an added bonus, this is found at an Etruscan crossroads and indeed was inside Etruscran ruins. The main road links Florence and Siena and the cross road was an ancient road linking Perugia and Volterra (google helped here).

If no one believes me, google it and see how many others (mostly slowtrav folks) made the same bold claim about this gelato.

ps. the reason I say "happened across it by accident" is because despite its prominent spot, we had once again overeaten at lunchtime and weren't sure if we could stuff more food into our stomachs. We almost let it go...

I have traveled to Italy more than 20 times and I think I found the best gelato in Italy in Cesena. But I have a feeling that it doesn't get many raves on the slowtrav site because more of their audience travels to Chianti than to Cesena.

Everything is relative.

Ok, I'll play one upmanship.

The best gelato is actually in Macerata (Le Marche) at a place called da Secondo.

OK I will play !
I do love gelato and have it everyday we are in Italy. It is hard to pick the best, but my vote goes to Gelateria di Piazza near the cisterna in San Gimignano. Try the Vernaccia flavor done with the local wine.

I thought I would mention that I don't give a fig about gelato, and cannot relate to the importance that some people give to it. It's merely a snack food.

"Gelateria di Piazza near the cisterna in San Gimignano"

This was my favorite place until we stumbled upon a wonderful place in Bra in Piemonte. Of course it might help that one of the flavors we always compare is hazelnut and those are the speciality of the Piemonte region, and the Slow Food movement started here! This place was run by a family and the flavors were very clean , intense, and fresh.

I also found a great place in Venice but can't remember the name - I wonder if it is one of the ones mentioned above...

Imagine my surprise to find your favorite is in Castellina in Chianti. So is mine!

I didn't get the name of the shop. Each time we approached it, I had eyes only for the inside of the shop, thinking of what wonderful flavor I was going to try that day.

Last summer, it had a big ice cream cone statue outside. Is this the same shop?

Sorry, but the best gelato in italy is sold at that little nondescript stand which faces the lake from the "town square" in Menagiio.

We know this to be true because the last time we were there they had a sign up over the counter which read,

"Non credere quella donna silly che gli dica che il roba che poco costoso vendono in qualche luogo altrimenti in Italia sia migliore di il nostro!"

Our favorite was the chocolate and the riso gelato we had at the shop with the awnings to the left of the cathedral in Orvieto.

The best gelato we have had (so far) in Italy was in Capri Town, at the top of the hill. A little shop with a window to sell from the street. They had fresh waffle cones made straight off the iron, and when they put the gelato in, it melted into the bottom of the cone.
It was delicious.

Yum! The best I remember of many places is in Como, next to a restaurant around the "square" by the lake.
Gelato always seems creamier and smoother, and richer..., but after a discussion with someone~~~ I did research and found it is LESS caloric than regular ice cream. It's in the way it is made and no need to go into detail now.

Yes, I guess gelato IS a "snack food" as Padraig said (but why did he even bother to reply to THIS thread?)....but a good snack food indeed,,,and I like to think it's a good way to get our calcium while traveling!!!&gt)(and I don't even like many SWEETS!)

The only thing I remember loving about San Gimignano, is its gelati. I had two cones in a row at each of the two ice-cream parlors on the main square.

My initial response is &quot;any gelato that <b><u>I'm</u></b> eating <b><u>in</u></b> Italy is the best gelato&quot;... ;-)

That said, I thank you all for adding to my To Do list this fall. I fondly remember all the gelatos I have loved before -- Davide in Sorrento; both in San Gim; Vivoli, Perche No and Festiva del Gelato in Florence.

mari5 wrote: &quot;Yes, I guess gelato IS a &quot;snack food&quot; as Padraig said (but why did he even bother to reply to THIS thread?)&quot;

I had a purpose, and it would be a pity to have to explain it.

Oddly, fig gelato is one of my favorite flavors

And in case anyone's interested, there's a Grom in NYC now, on the Upper West Side, Broadway and 76th of 77th. Yum!

I vote with bobthenavigator, Gelateria di Piazza, in San Gimignano. The best, and most memorable flavor of gelato I've every had (though Vivoli's riso is a close second) is their formaggio e pero, a delicate pear flavor with small pieces of, yes, cheese. Oh, to have more of that...

Fig gelato can also be had at the Argentinian Gelateria on Wisconsin Ave., NW, in Georgetown, DC, StCirq.

No need to go to NYC to get your gelato fix. It is all over DC now.

But the largest selection of gelato I have ever seen in North America was in the gelateria at the ferry dock in Tsawwassen, British Columbia [where you get the ferries to go to Vancouver Island). There were about 60 flavors and I had a very difficult time choosing. I do not think that they made their own, however.

We have been to that gelateria in Castellina in Chianti and while it is very good (and beautiful inside) we all agree that the best is at Biagi in Sarzana (just inland from the Ligurian Coast near Lerici).

St.Cirq and Faux St. Marie - We are headed to NYC and DC in just over a week, and SO glad to hear there is some good gelato there. We were not impressed with Gelateria Laboratorio on the LES last time we were in NYC.

Faux Ste. Marie - any other gelateria in DC you can recommend (we will be staying in DuPont Circle)?

Why everybody wishes to find THE BEST ...? it is good everywhere, ....

Good gelato in DC can be found in the food court (really) in the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center and in the basement of the National Museum of Natural History on the Mall.

Gelato is also available in the Union Station food court, but I don't like it as much as the other places. For fig gelato, you have to go to the place in Georgetown.