Ottawa's original Italian gelato maker has a thing for Dubai chocolate
Access: steps to front door
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The closest Joe Calabro had come to tasting the flavours of Dubai was watching the episode of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix dedicated to exploring food in the super-trendy city in the United Arab Emirates.
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But that didn't stop the veteran Ottawa pastry chef and gelato maker from creating his of-the-moment frozen confection, pistachio Dubai chocolate gelato, which riffs — deliciously, I should add — on the much-hyped FIX brand Dubai chocolate bars that have captivated more than 125,000,000 TikTok users.
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Since it was introduced five months ago at Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana, Calabro's 46-year-old store on Preston Street, pistachio Dubai chocolate gelato has been among the top sellers. Yes, it's trendy. But more importantly, Calabro has perfectly balanced his creation's flavours — the complex mix of its pistachio base, chocolate ganache, sesame paste, crunchy shredded phyllo and orange blossom.
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Calabro says he came across Dubai chocolate just as everyone else did, by watching videos online. But because Calabro's a true pioneer of Italian sweets in Ottawa, the clips didn't leave him just amused and hungry. Instead, he was inspired.
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Given that Calabro introduced gelato to Ottawa in 1979, you could say this latest flavour is 46 years in the making.
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Calabro says that after he made his trial batch, he sought feedback from both Arab employees and customers. (The store attracts 'the United Nations' when it comes to its customers, Calabro says.) Calabro's focus group thought his new gelato was spot-on, he says.
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Word of Calabro's pistachio Dubai chocolate gelato has spread and new, younger customers are coming to the store, he adds.
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In his showcase, Calabro has one of Ottawa's largest selections of frozen desserts, including 18 types of gelato and 12 sorbets. Flavours come and go, as Calabro keeps on inventing, hoping to develop new crowd-pleasers while staving off his own boredom. That's why, for example, there are currently six kinds of chocolate gelato behind the glass at Calabro's store — chocolate brownie, chocolate bomb, chocolate sacher, chocolate orange, chocolate bacio and Belgian chocolate.
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