Friday, May 20, 2011

Another Ice Cream Travesty or "Don't You Dare Sit Down"



Cafe Di Paris on the via Veneto is a wonderful gelateria, don't get me wrong, but this is a cautionary tale. As is tradition in Italy, the greater majority of cafes and gelaterie charge extra for table service. Once on a quick one day trip to Venice I was exhausted enough trying to keep up with my nephew's pace, that I sat down in Piazza San Marco and had to pay $14 euros for the privilege and a cup of coffee, but it was worth it, although I felt guilty for shooing off my nephew when he came over to join me, telling him to find something to look at, since I couldn't afford for both of us to sit! The incident at Cafe Di Paris came earlier in the trip.



We were coming back from Villa Borghese and it's admirable museum on a warm day when we needed a rest break before traveling on the Metro. Since we had been to Cafe Di Paris once before for the delicious pistacchio and coco cono you see in the photo below, and a chocolate pistacchio small cup that you see on the counter in the photo above right, it seemed like a good place to make our stop. The gelato there is richer than in many other gelaterie and it has a firm texture, so we like it. The cono had cost around 4 and a half euro, so how much could one cost at a table? For a few euros more, it didn't matter, we needed the break. I made the mistake of asking for a coppa or cup since I usually don't eat cones. What we received were large ice cream dishes filled to the brim with the single flavor we had ordered. Oops! It was a costly mistake and upped the ante to 11 euros each. We did enjoy every single bite, so we chalked it up to a nice splurge and went on our way. Even though it was 1 euro more than the Giolitti gelato, it was much more satisfying. I recommend it for excellent gelato.




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