Some of Alessio Carnevale’s fondest childhood memories took place at his uncle’s gelato shop in Calabria, Italy. One of these throwbacks begins with a broken arm, which may have inadvertently determined Carnevale’s career.
“One summer, my uncle broke his arm, and my mother said I needed to help him out in the shop. It was really hard work, but I fell in love with gelato-making that summer,” recalled Carnevale, who is about to open a gelato shop of his own, Via Gelateria, in downtown Solvang.
Currently residing in Buellton with his wife and three children, Carnevale has been making gelato for local restaurants, catered events, and pop-ups since 2014, but Via Gelateria will be his first brick-and-mortar location.
“I’m so excited to finally open up the shop; it has been a long time coming,” Carnevale said. “I look forward to seeing people strolling the streets of Solvang with a gelato cone in hand.”
While an official grand opening date has yet to be announced, Carnevale plans to open the shop sometime late this summer (before fall at the latest), with a location currently secured on Mission Drive. Patrons of the new storefront will have access to both a front patio area and a shaded courtyard (shared with neighboring businesses) to enjoy their gelato, or they can take it on the go.
“Solvang seemed like a natural fit, especially the building we are in,” Carnevale said. “The first time I looked at the location, I thought to myself, ‘It’s a little piazza in the middle of Solvang—perfect.’”
In the meantime, while the shop prepares to open, local gelato enthusiasts can already find Carnevale’s frozen desserts at two spots in the Santa Ynez Valley: S.Y. Kitchen and Nella Kitchen and Bar. The latter of the two features one of Carnevale’s personal favorite creations of his own, known as Alessio’s Belgian Cookie Gelato.
“The Belgian cookie was inspired by my kids; they love those cookies and asked me to make it for them one day, and now it’s on the menu at Nella Kitchen and Bar,” said Carnevale, whose cookie gelato is paired with a chocolate glaze, and served with fresh berries on the side.
Carnevale expects his new shop will offer up to 18 different gelato flavors at a time, made from locally sourced ingredients. Some of the featured flavors will shift at the store depending on the time of year, he explained.
“I’m excited to be able to produce the gelato on-site and customize flavors and feature seasonal items whenever I can,” Carnevale said.
Guests of Via Gelateria will be able to see Carnevale behind the counter upholding his family’s gelato tradition, making the dessert the same way his uncle did.
“My uncle made gelato the old-fashioned way, all by hand,” said Carnevale, who remembers learning how crucial the extraction phase is, especially without the help of a machine.
“There wasn’t a fancy gelato machine with a timer in his shop. He would give the command and I’d have to remove the gelato with a long wooden spatula by hand, while he kept the batch spinning,” Carnevale said. “It was definitely a learning experience.”
Even after Via Gelateria opens, Carnevale plans to continue providing his gelatos to the aforementioned Santa Ynez restaurants, as well as pop-up events and catered gatherings. One of Carnevale’s favorite custom gelatos was one he created for a wedding reception, he recalled.
“I catered a wedding where the bride and the groom each featured a special gelato flavor for dessert. The bride wanted a really unique flavor and we worked together to come up with a beautiful saffron and lavender gelato,” he said of the successful experiment. “It turned out really great.”
While bringing “a little bit of Italy to the Santa Ynez Valley,” Carnevale loves adding a dash of the Central Coast to his frozen concoctions through locally sourced components, including strawberries and wines for unique wine-infused gelato flavors.
The gelato maker said he feels grateful to live in an area surrounded by such high-quality resources.
“Anytime I use local ingredients I get really excited,” Carnevale said. “We’re lucky to have so many items in our own backyard.”
Preparing the new gelato shop is bringing to the surface a lot of Carnevale’s memories of working for his uncle as a child, and it’s also making him nostalgic for Italy in general, where he also met his wife, 16 years ago, before they moved to California together. Many of their first dates ended in gelato, he said.
“I met my wife in Rome; she was working there and I was working there for a brief period. We were young and totally broke,” Carnevale said. “I was trying to impress her by showing her Rome but I was on a budget. So we’d walk all around the city and always ended up at Giolitti Gelateria, it’s one of the best shops in Rome.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood wants to know your favorite gelato flavor at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 22-29, 2021.