At Gelarto in Chennai, choose from pistachio, hazelnut, berries, and bubblegum gelato in a cone

Fancy a scoop of the World’s Best Pistachio gelato in a waffle cone? Chennai’s newest gelato parlour Gelarto has 30 flavours to choose from

“I have built myself a playground,” says Janani Kannan. A pastry chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu, Janani Kannan launched her first dessert cafe Maison Indulgence in December 2023. Ice creams and horsing around with flavours however, was always on her mind. Securing the location where Gelarto, Chennai’s newest gelato parlour, is currently housed was the push she needed, to delve into making these flavours a reality.

In the freezer display at this brightly lit Ice-cream parlour painted in hues of pink and blue, there are 30 different flavours with names such as Boom Boom Boomer for abubblegum gelato, a ceremonial matcha gelato called a Perfect Matcha and sugarcane flavoured sorbet called Madras Mocktail.

Just a few days after its limited launch, Gelarto is filled with people, though it is a weekday. The location, as Janani says, makes it hard to miss. The gelato parlour is now where the very recognisable Subway once stood at Khadar Nawaz Khan road.

Janani says her experiments with flavours began after an intensive four-week online course with the Carpigiani Gelato University in Italy. “Apart from the cotton candy and bubblegum flavours, everything is natural with no-added essence. While around 15 flavours which include pistachio, milo, chocolate brownie and vanilla bean will remain untouched, we will replace some fruit flavours depending on the season,” she says.

We dig into their very confidently named World’s Best Pistachio gelato. Made from Sicilian pistachios, every creamy spoonful is bursting with flavour. Given how pistachio is all the craze now and is on ice creams, chocolates and desserts everywhere, Gelarto’s take on it is a winner. Among the more experimental flavours, the guava chilli has a nice hit of spice, and the ceremonial matcha thankfully does not go too overboard with its strongly flavoured main ingredient. If you are someone who loves citrusy desserts, there are quite a few options to pick from. The Fior Di Limon which is a Lemon curd gelato is a welcome alternative to the more easily available icy lemon sorbet, and since strawberries are in season, the Mahabaleshwar strawberry gelato is a current hit.There are four no-added-sugar-diabetic-friendly flavours as well – chocolate, vanilla bean, shahi gulab, and coffee hazelnut.

While the sheer variety is a great USP for Gelarto which is located within walking distance from three other popular ice cream parlours and several dessert stalls and cafes in the area, it helps that the gelato is not overwhelmingly sweet. For diners who wish to try many flavours at the parlour there is a limited menu of four types of fries and two pizzas at present, for some savoury relief. In the future, Janani says that some items from Maison Indulgence’s menu too will be available here, and she plans to have ice creams from Gelarto available there as well in the summer.

“The 30 flavours currently available are only a part of a comprehensive list of 70 flavours I have worked on for Gelarto,” Janani says. In the coming months, they hope to put out a lot more new flavours — a Mexican hot chocolate gelato and a goat cheese gelato with fig relish and candied walnuts are on the anvil.