Why this Aberdeen beach cafe switched to homemade gelato

Press and Journal

14-05-2025

Paul Dawson swapped life in the fairground for running Pavilion café on Aberdeen beach nine years ago.
Paul spent 17 years operating 'kiddie rides' at the city's fairground, his father running a prize bingo.
And after making the switch to the food and drink scene, he was keen to bring something unique to his Pavilion café.
The idea came to him in the form of homemade gelato.
'I wanted to bring a more passionate presence into the place,' he says.
'And the only way to do that is by making your own.'
The name 'Buzz Gelato', says Paul, is a reference to the 'vibration of positivity' he hopes the dessert transfers to his customers.
Paul, accompanied by chief gelato maker Maciek Ciechanowicz, visits Italy every year for inspiration, trying out different flavours of gelato.
Some cafes across the city source their ice cream from local suppliers, such as Rizza's of Huntly or Forest Farm Dairy, while some others offer the classic Mr Whippy.
But Paul was keen to make his own onsite.
He says: 'I love bringing unique colours and flavours of gelato to our customers.
'I think what sets us apart from other places is that we make a handmade product in house, and we don't have to depend on suppliers.'
The team also offer low sugar gelato for dogs, made with peanut butter and banana, which has been 'massive,' says Paul.
'I work at the windows, and I really enjoy that.
'Pets are the same as the people – you build up relationships with them. And then the dogs get to know you.
'It's a lot of fun, because there are a lot of dogs along the beach front.'
There are a range of quirky and more traditional flavours of gelato on offer at Pavilion café, including orange and mandarin and blueberry cheesecake, plus sorbet.
The café also offers 'The Don' gelato, an ode to Aberdeen Football Club.
But Paul says he isn't one to follow trends.
'Because we're making flavours that are unique to ourselves, we've built up a following of people that come in to try our new ones,' he adds.
'Dubai chocolate has been trending, right? But we don't really want to be following the trends. We want to do flavours that are unique to us.'
Pavilion café team member Maciek Ciechanowicz is the chief gelato maker at the beachfront café.
He utilises an ice cream machine, pasteuriser and blast freezer to bring the gelato and sorbet to life.
Using ingredients sourced from Italy, they tell me, they mix this with the base mix (pasteurised milk, double cream, sugar and dextrose).
To fill the pasteuriser – which has a 60 litre capacity – Maciek needs to use 39 litres of milk, nine litres of double cream, 7.5 kilos of sugar and one kilo of dextrose.
During busy weeks, he can make as much as 300 litres of gelato.
The pasteurising process takes around an hour and a half, and then it takes half an hour in the ice cream machine.
Using the blast freezer, the ice cream is quickly lowered in just ten minutes to a temperature of -35 degrees to give it the right texture.
'I get a lot of pride when customers tell me they're happy,' says Maciek.
'That feels great.'