Latest news with #Messina
CTV News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Bard on the Beach to present Much Ado About Nothing with small but mighty edit
People line up to enter Bard on the Beach in Vancouver. (The Canadian Press / Chuck Stoody) To the casual theatregoer, this year's Bard on the Beach production of Much Ado About Nothing will seem delightfully typical of the company's crowd-pleasing spectacles, but to the seasoned Shakespeare fan something might seem afoot. To modify or not to modify? That was the question posed before director Johnna Wright decided to update her version of the 16th century comedy with additional text by playwright Erin Shields. Shields had tweaked the text for Ontario's The Stratford Festival in 2023, including a prologue for one of the lead characters and a new scene for the production's fifth act. Wright assures all the major elements are the same: The production is set in the Italian city of Messina, and the storyline focuses on the two romances between Claudio and Hero and Benedick and Beatrice. The modification addresses a particular element of the storyline without changing the ending, she says. It is an addition to the script, not a rewrite, that Wright describes as 'giving voice' to a character that is silenced in the original play. 'I was very excited when I read Erin's script because it does such a beautiful job of being true to the play and to the characters that Shakespeare created, but also linking it to a modern audience and how we respond to the kind of things that are happening,' she says. Shakespeare's original grapples with the theme of gender as it reflects the expectations of women in Elizabethan-era England. It has elements that Wright says appear in many Shakespeare plays, elements that can be 'difficult to get to grips with' as a modern-day viewer. Often they made gender assumptions or acknowledged societal norms that might seem unacceptable now, she says, but were typical of the times then. 'When you do these plays, you're always thinking, 'How am I going to make that part work?' says Wright. 'Because this is a comedy, and it is supposed to be a happy ending, but there are some things that are kind of disturbing that an Elizabethan audience would have accepted as a happy ending, but we don't see it that way.' Wright expects the additional scene, which sees the young and naive Hero respond to the violence endured throughout the play, to surprise Shakespeare devotees but to ultimately incite a warm reception. 'I will be very interested to find out how people respond to that particular aspect of the show,' she says. 'I think that most people will appreciate it because it just says what most people, I think, would be thinking when they watch these events. Which is 'this is wrong, this is terrible.' We get a chance to address that, so you don't have to feel that you've watched something disturbing and nothing was acknowledged.' Bard veteran Jennifer Lines, who has been working with the company since 1996 and will be playing Beatrice in the upcoming production, says the adjustment made by Wright marks a shift in theatre that will hopefully cause a ripple effect leading to the tweaking of other productions where needed. 'I've been doing this for a long time now and I see the need for accessibility and engaging a modern sensibility, and having those broader interpretations,' says the actress. 'Making it relevant and inclusive, it is important, but it is a dance.' Lines assures the tweaks do not take anything away from the brilliance of the original, a brilliance which, as someone who has performed in the play multiple times as Margaret, Ursula and Beatrice, she says she can attest to. 'It is a play that keeps coming back to me. It's comedic, it's dramatic, it's romantic, it's got everything,' she adds. 'The characters are well fleshed out. There's intelligent banter. It's one of Shakespeare's loveliest plays in my mind, and it's such a thrill to be a part of.'
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Obama world loses its shine in a changing, hurting Democratic Party
After Kamala Harris entered the presidential race last year, she reached out to Barack Obama campaign alum Jim Messina to help lead her White House bid. But when Messina shared news of the vice president's offer with a friend, he received a stern warning. 'I said 'Jim, if you get involved in this, it'll be political suicide,'' Democratic megadonor John Morgan, a longtime Harris critic, recalled of his conversation with Messina, who had served in Obama's White House and managed his successful 2012 re-election campaign. 'You're going to be a loser. And your whole shine is you're undefeated.' Messina declined the job. And after Harris' loss to Donald Trump, it may not have been a bad move. David Plouffe, long hailed as the brilliant architect of Obama's 2008 victory, served in a key role in Harris' campaign and is now among those tagged with a devastating defeat. 'The shine's off Plouffe now. He was the golden boy,' Morgan said. 'Now he's just an old broken-down boy, who lost. Big.' Messina did not comment on the exchange. Plouffe did not respond to a request for comment. While many Democrats still admire Plouffe's successes, the harsh words punctuated a growing sentiment across a party searching for a path forward: Team Obama's bloom may be falling off the rose. More Democrats are openly criticizing Obama strategists and consultants, who were long treated as the high priests of their party's politics. Democratic National Committee officials at a news event last month blamed Obama's lack of investment in state parties over his two terms for setting back local organizing, with the party still feeling the effects. The so-called Obama coalition of voters — less politically engaged voters, younger voters and voters of color — is no more. In 2024, each of those groups shifted toward Trump in high numbers. Going forward, it could mark a clean slate for a party whose course for nearly two decades cascaded from decisions Obama had made. It was Obama who chose Biden as his vice president, offering him the elevated perch that set up his 2020 election and his aborted 2024 re-election. Obama selected Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, then anointed her for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 race against Trump. The operatives Obama and his top aides empowered have carved out leading, decision-making roles at the top of the Democratic Party since then. But after 2024, more Democrats want to see that change. Obama himself remains a force in the party, filling stadiums and commanding the attention of major donors. Indeed, the DNC is in talks with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to host Obama for a fundraiser at his home, according to two people with knowledge of the planning, which is still in its early stages. But even the former president's luster was showing signs of fading last fall, a phenomenon that threatens to persist as the next crop of young voters ages into adulthood. When the 2028 presidential election arrives, it will be 20 years since Obama's first victory. At that point, more voters will have come of age in the era of Donald Trump than in the era of Obama. 'One of the challenges the Democratic Party does have is that there is nostalgia for the Obama era, both in terms of Barack Obama being in the White House and what that meant for the country and the style of leadership that we have, but also like the style of our politics,' Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist, said. 'There's been a de-evolution of our politics over the last 10 years, and it's just a very different era.' Democrats point to myriad factors leading to Harris' defeat in 2024 — with many focusing on a compressed timeline because Biden refused to step aside as the party's candidate until 107 days before the election. Plouffe pointedly blamed Biden, saying 'He totally f---ed us' in a newly released book. Plouffe's verbal affront opened him and fellow Obama alums to their own criticisms. DNC Finance Chair Chris Korge lashed out at Plouffe in an interview with NBC News last week, saying he and other Obama alums shared the blame, chiding them as the 'so-called gurus.' 'It's time to re-evaluate the use of consultants and bring in new forward-looking people,' Korge also said in the interview. 'The old Obama playbook no longer works.' Jane Kleeb — the Nebraska Democratic Party chair, a DNC vice chair and the president of a national group of state party chairs — said Democrats need to get back to the basics of investing in and listening to local stakeholders and organizers. She said this realization crystalized during the recent Omaha mayoral election, when Republicans attacked the Democratic candidate on transgender issues. She said the party 'screwed up' in 2024 by not pushing back on those attacks on candidates up and down the ticket. This time, she said, she knew whom to get into a room to tackle the issue. 'I didn't contact the Pod Save America guys or a New York press firm to say, 'How do I handle this?'' Kleeb said. 'Our team literally got into the conference room at our state party office and said, 'Let's throw out ideas on how we can push back on this, because we're not going to let them take down John Ewing on this bulls--- again.'' They went basic, flipping the script in a new ad: Mayor Jean Stothert was 'focused on potties;' Democratic candidate Ewing was 'focused on fixing potholes.' Ewing ended up ousting the longtime incumbent by nearly 13 points, after Stothert had trounced her past opponents. 'And that resonated with voters,' Kleeb said, adding: 'The reality for state parties on the ground is we don't give a s--- about what camp a political consultant cut their teeth in.' As far as she's concerned, she said, she welcomes any and all Democrats — those who worked for any Democratic president and beyond — to be in the room. 'Our party is looking at these philosophical questions and missing the point that we need to trust the people in the states who are on the ground, who are constantly in touch with voters, and just let this intraparty fighting and whose camp is better — let it go,' Kleeb said. 'I want them all at the table.' Other Democrats echoed the sentiment. One longtime Biden ally, Steve Schale, who also worked on Obama's presidential campaigns, specifically defended Plouffe's contributions to the party. 'David is one of the sharpest guys around. I was grateful he stepped up and joined the campaign, and anyone who thinks his voice isn't needed, quite frankly, is an idiot,' Schale said. 'David has also been clear-eyed about what we need to do going forward … He's done enough in his life that he has earned the right to take his ball and go home, but for one, I am glad he remains engaged.' Chuck Rocha, who worked on Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential bid and consults on House and Senate campaigns, said that a small cluster of firms dominate the market for political operatives. 'Most of these same consultants have locked in these candidates before they ever announce, and so there's never any opportunity for any new blood to be a part of these campaigns,' said Rocha, who helped freshman Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., win his seat in 2024. He said the firms rise and fall, but the players who run them are the same — a sort of regeneration cycle that keeps the same people in place. 'They're all connected,' he said. In 2024, Biden-Harris campaign chief Jen O'Malley Dillon tapped fellow Obama alumni for major roles. For example, Stephanie Cutter, managing partner of O'Malley Dillon's old firm, Precision Strategies, was picked to help run the Democratic convention program and prep Harris for media interviews. 270 Strategies founding partner Mitch Stewart, who managed battleground states for Obama, was brought on to oversee a similar program for Biden. Rufus Gifford, the big-donor wrangler for Obama, acted as director of fundraising for the Biden campaign. The list goes Kofinis, a Democratic strategist with experience on past presidential campaigns, said it's time for the party to take a hard look at the same set of operatives, including Obama campaign alums, who have been running national Democratic campaigns. 'I'm sorry — I don't want a surgeon who keeps killing patients,' he said. Some victories, he noted, are a reflection of the skills of the candidate, rather than the operatives around them. 'It's pretty easy to win with a guy like Obama,' Kofinis said, adding that Democrats tend to put too much emphasis on experience when they hire operatives, rather than 'whether they're any good' at their jobs. Activist and DNC vice chair David Hogg said that just as some elected Democrats cling to power for too long, so too does the party's operative class. He sees an anti-establishment fervor that began with Obama and continues to this day, where candidates who are perceived to be going against the system will be more successful than those who pledge to uphold or defend it. 'It's hard to imagine this now, because Obama is such a major figurehead, obviously he's seen as part of the system, but when he ran, he ran, I would argue, as an anti-establishment candidate,' said Hogg, who has faced pushback for holding a DNC position while also advocating for primary challenges against some party incumbents. Aside from a unique, Covid-fueled election in 2020, he continued, 'the challenge is, we are still in a moment where anti system candidates are going to be favored.' But with political operatives who cut their teeth in the Obama years still wielding power in the party, there's a disconnect between the leadership and younger electorates the party needs to win moving forward, Hogg added. Part of the issue is that those young voters barely have any memory of the nation's first Black president. 'I don't think they have one to be honest with you. That's part of the challenge,' Hogg, 25, said, adding, 'For many of these younger people who are under the age of 20, right now … they don't remember much of what Obama talked about. They grew up in the political context of Donald Trump and him being normalized, because that was what politics was to them growing up.' Ammar Moussa, a campaign aide to both Biden and Harris, noted that a natural changing of the guard is likely already underway. For starters, many of the governors filling up the short-list of leading contenders for the party's 2028 nomination have their own longtime political hands, some of them incubated far from Democratic Party headquarters in Washington. 'We should always think about how we are elevating operatives and promoting their staff who understand the landscape and what it takes to win campaigns in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028, because every cycle is different,' Moussa said. 'It's incumbent upon candidates and senior staffers and the senior consulting class to know what they don't know.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Obama world loses its shine in a changing, hurting Democratic Party
After Kamala Harris entered the presidential race last year, she reached out to Barack Obama campaign alum Jim Messina to help lead her White House bid. But when Messina shared news of the vice president's offer with a friend, he received a stern warning. 'I said 'Jim, if you get involved in this, it'll be political suicide,'' Democratic megadonor John Morgan, a longtime Harris critic, recalled of his conversation with Messina, who had served in Obama's White House and managed his successful 2012 re-election campaign. 'You're going to be a loser. And your whole shine is you're undefeated.' Messina declined the job. And after Harris' loss to Donald Trump, it may not have been a bad move. David Plouffe, long hailed as the brilliant architect of Obama's 2008 victory, served in a key role in Harris' campaign and is now among those tagged with a devastating defeat. 'The shine's off Plouffe now. He was the golden boy,' Morgan said. 'Now he's just an old broken-down boy, who lost. Big.' Messina did not comment on the exchange. Plouffe did not respond to a request for comment. While many Democrats still admire Plouffe's successes, the harsh words punctuated a growing sentiment across a party searching for a path forward: Team Obama's bloom may be falling off the rose. More Democrats are openly criticizing Obama strategists and consultants, who were long treated as the high priests of their party's politics. Democratic National Committee officials at a news event last month blamed Obama's lack of investment in state parties over his two terms for setting back local organizing, with the party still feeling the effects. The so-called Obama coalition of voters — less politically engaged voters, younger voters and voters of color — is no more. In 2024, each of those groups shifted toward Trump in high numbers. Going forward, it could mark a clean slate for a party whose course for nearly two decades cascaded from decisions Obama had made. It was Obama who chose Biden as his vice president, offering him the elevated perch that set up his 2020 election and his aborted 2024 re-election. Obama selected Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, then anointed her for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 race against Trump. The operatives Obama and his top aides empowered have carved out leading, decision-making roles at the top of the Democratic Party since then. But after 2024, more Democrats want to see that change. Obama himself remains a force in the party, filling stadiums and commanding the attention of major donors. Indeed, the DNC is in talks with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to host Obama for a fundraiser at his home, according to two people with knowledge of the planning, which is still in its early stages. But even the former president's luster was showing signs of fading last fall, a phenomenon that threatens to persist as the next crop of young voters ages into adulthood. When the 2028 presidential election arrives, it will be 20 years since Obama's first victory. At that point, more voters will have come of age in the era of Donald Trump than in the era of Obama. 'One of the challenges the Democratic Party does have is that there is nostalgia for the Obama era, both in terms of Barack Obama being in the White House and what that meant for the country and the style of leadership that we have, but also like the style of our politics,' Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist, said. 'There's been a de-evolution of our politics over the last 10 years, and it's just a very different era.' Criticism flying within the party Democrats point to myriad factors leading to Harris' defeat in 2024 — with many focusing on a compressed timeline because Biden refused to step aside as the party's candidate until 107 days before the election. Plouffe pointedly blamed Biden, saying 'He totally f---ed us' in a newly released book. Plouffe's verbal affront opened him and fellow Obama alums to their own criticisms. DNC Finance Chair Chris Korge lashed out at Plouffe in an interview with NBC News last week, saying he and other Obama alums shared the blame, chiding them as the 'so-called gurus.' 'It's time to re-evaluate the use of consultants and bring in new forward-looking people,' Korge also said in the interview. 'The old Obama playbook no longer works.' Jane Kleeb — the Nebraska Democratic Party chair, a DNC vice chair and the president of a national group of state party chairs — said Democrats need to get back to the basics of investing in and listening to local stakeholders and organizers. She said this realization crystalized during the recent Omaha mayoral election, when Republicans attacked the Democratic candidate on transgender issues. She said the party 'screwed up' in 2024 by not pushing back on those attacks on candidates up and down the ticket. This time, she said, she knew whom to get into a room to tackle the issue. 'I didn't contact the Pod Save America guys or a New York press firm to say, 'How do I handle this?'' Kleeb said. 'Our team literally got into the conference room at our state party office and said, 'Let's throw out ideas on how we can push back on this, because we're not going to let them take down John Ewing on this bulls--- again.'' They went basic, flipping the script in a new ad: Mayor Jean Stothert was 'focused on potties;' Democratic candidate Ewing was 'focused on fixing potholes.' Ewing ended up ousting the longtime incumbent by nearly 13 points, after Stothert had trounced her past opponents. 'And that resonated with voters,' Kleeb said, adding: 'The reality for state parties on the ground is we don't give a s--- about what camp a political consultant cut their teeth in.' As far as she's concerned, she said, she welcomes any and all Democrats — those who worked for any Democratic president and beyond — to be in the room. 'Our party is looking at these philosophical questions and missing the point that we need to trust the people in the states who are on the ground, who are constantly in touch with voters, and just let this intraparty fighting and whose camp is better — let it go,' Kleeb said. 'I want them all at the table.' Other Democrats echoed the sentiment. One longtime Biden ally, Steve Schale, who also worked on Obama's presidential campaigns, specifically defended Plouffe's contributions to the party. 'David is one of the sharpest guys around. I was grateful he stepped up and joined the campaign, and anyone who thinks his voice isn't needed, quite frankly, is an idiot,' Schale said. 'David has also been clear-eyed about what we need to do going forward … He's done enough in his life that he has earned the right to take his ball and go home, but for one, I am glad he remains engaged.' Chuck Rocha, who worked on Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential bid and consults on House and Senate campaigns, said that a small cluster of firms dominate the market for political operatives. 'Most of these same consultants have locked in these candidates before they ever announce, and so there's never any opportunity for any new blood to be a part of these campaigns,' said Rocha, who helped freshman Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., win his seat in 2024. He said the firms rise and fall, but the players who run them are the same — a sort of regeneration cycle that keeps the same people in place. 'They're all connected,' he said. In 2024, Biden-Harris campaign chief Jen O'Malley Dillon tapped fellow Obama alumni for major roles. For example, Stephanie Cutter, managing partner of O'Malley Dillon's old firm, Precision Strategies, was picked to help run the Democratic convention program and prep Harris for media interviews. 270 Strategies founding partner Mitch Stewart, who managed battleground states for Obama, was brought on to oversee a similar program for Biden. Rufus Gifford, the big-donor wrangler for Obama, acted as director of fundraising for the Biden campaign. The list goes on. Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist with experience on past presidential campaigns, said it's time for the party to take a hard look at the same set of operatives, including Obama campaign alums, who have been running national Democratic campaigns. 'I'm sorry — I don't want a surgeon who keeps killing patients,' he said. Some victories, he noted, are a reflection of the skills of the candidate, rather than the operatives around them. 'It's pretty easy to win with a guy like Obama,' Kofinis said, adding that Democrats tend to put too much emphasis on experience when they hire operatives, rather than 'whether they're any good' at their jobs. Activist and DNC vice chair David Hogg said that just as some elected Democrats cling to power for too long, so too does the party's operative class. He sees an anti-establishment fervor that began with Obama and continues to this day, where candidates who are perceived to be going against the system will be more successful than those who pledge to uphold or defend it. 'It's hard to imagine this now, because Obama is such a major figurehead, obviously he's seen as part of the system, but when he ran, he ran, I would argue, as an anti-establishment candidate,' said Hogg, who has faced pushback for holding a DNC position while also advocating for primary challenges against some party incumbents. Aside from a unique, Covid-fueled election in 2020, he continued, 'the challenge is, we are still in a moment where anti system candidates are going to be favored.' What's next for Democrats But with political operatives who cut their teeth in the Obama years still wielding power in the party, there's a disconnect between the leadership and younger electorates the party needs to win moving forward, Hogg added. Part of the issue is that those young voters barely have any memory of the nation's first Black president. 'I don't think they have one to be honest with you. That's part of the challenge,' Hogg, 25, said, adding, 'For many of these younger people who are under the age of 20, right now … they don't remember much of what Obama talked about. They grew up in the political context of Donald Trump and him being normalized, because that was what politics was to them growing up.' Ammar Moussa, a campaign aide to both Biden and Harris, noted that a natural changing of the guard is likely already underway. For starters, many of the governors filling up the short-list of leading contenders for the party's 2028 nomination have their own longtime political hands, some of them incubated far from Democratic Party headquarters in Washington. 'We should always think about how we are elevating operatives and promoting their staff who understand the landscape and what it takes to win campaigns in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028, because every cycle is different,' Moussa said. 'It's incumbent upon candidates and senior staffers and the senior consulting class to know what they don't know.'
Courier-Mail
09-05-2025
- Business
- Courier-Mail
‘Real life Willy Wonka': Inside gelato Messina headquarters
There are few things that capture childlike imagination more than the creation of Australia's favourite desserts. Messina Gelato knows this all too well, and is releasing two new flavours, P.B. Peanut Butter and Super Flan, exclusively to Woolworths shelves. As part of the rollout, the iconic gelato brand gave exclusive behind-the-scenes access to their headquarters in Marrickville in Sydney's inner west (where all their dessert and gelato flavours start life) to find out the secrets behind your favourite scoop. Messina's new flavours of P.B. Peanut Butter and Super Flan. Picture: Supplied. Messina's head chef Donato Toce has the enviable task of developing new flavours and it's a job he said means taking inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. 'Designing a flavour can come from anywhere – from a meal you had the night before (or more likely a dessert) to a more classic dessert, like we've done apple pie, tarte tatin,' Mr Toce told 'All these things where we've been able to sort of mash-up and put into a gelato. 'Flavours come from everywhere, customers give us flavours, staff give us flavours, so it's basically about putting things together that work in a scoop,' he said. 'For us it's really important that when we introduce a flavour or give a description of a flavour it has everything in that one scoop.' Mr Toce has developed a mountain of specials over the years but said this rollout allows shoppers to get the gelato experience in the convenience of supermarket shopping. Gelato Messina owners left to right, Nick Palumbo, Declan Lee, Donato Toce, Danny Palumbo. Picture: Supplied 'Super Flan is one of our biggest selling specials that we make, it's real simple gelato but it's just super tasty. It's really rich custard gelato slathered with dulce de leche. This one here P.B. is really cool, it's just peanut on peanut on peanut.' Asked if there are any flavours that are off limits, Mr Toce said a brief experiment into tomato sorbet would likely never be repeated, but two varieties they'll never stop making 'because our roots are Italian' would be the hazelnut or pistachio flavours. 'They're definite, non-negotiable,' he declared. 'One of my favourite flavours is a classic Italian one, it's called fat clemenza, It's a ricotta gelato with smashed cannoli through it, just the Italian heritage for me is killer,' he said. Founder and father-of-two Nick Palumbo said the milestone drop celebrates Messina's 20-year journey from a single Darlinghurst store to a household name and celebrity favourite. During her recent tour, pop star Dua Lipa was spotted at Bondi Messina enjoying a scoop of salted coconut & mango. Head of brand and marketing Sian Bishop believes Messina is about as close to real life Willy Wonka as you can get and with the brand's innovation and expansion will likely only become more fantastical into the future. 'It's a brand of many parts. We have so many things going on here, which is the beauty of it right? We're always pushing the boundaries to try and find something new and creative that other people aren't doing,' Ms Bishop said. 'We're always doing custom product development, like we recently launched our gelato Easter egg, which was like a one-kilogram gelato chocolate Easter egg, all handmade here.' The new flavours join existing Pistachio, Tiramisu, Dulce de Leche, Hazelnut and 'Robert Brownie Jr'. Picture: Supplied. Robert Brownie Jr became one of the supermarket giant's best-selling frozen dessert lines following its release last year. Picture: Supplied. For the above-and-beyond gelato enthusiasts, Messina welcomes members of the public to check out the Sydney headquarters first-hand. 'We now have a wine bar downstairs, I don't know of anywhere else doing that. We really want people to come and see what we're working on so we're opening up the HQ, people can take themselves on self-guided tours, where they can scan QR codes and they'll play videos of what's happening in the kitchen and what all the machines do,' Ms Bishop said. 'We also do an in-depth behind-the-scenes tour once a month on a Wednesday, which you can book on our website and that's a full walk through with Donato and the team. 'We start off with a drink, come through the store, go behind the scenes in the kitchen, get to see how it's made, get to see how the cakes are made, get to eat a lot of ice cream and a lot of chocolate,' he added. The 475 mil pints are available from Woolworths for $14.50, on special this week for $12.50. Originally published as 'Real life Willy Wonka': Inside gelato Messina headquarters
News.com.au
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Real life Willy Wonka': Inside gelato Messina headquarters
There are few things that capture childlike imagination more than the creation of Australia's favourite desserts. Messina Gelato knows this all too well, and is releasing two new flavours, P.B. Peanut Butter and Super Flan, exclusively to Woolworths shelves. As part of the rollout, the iconic gelato brand gave exclusive behind-the-scenes access to their headquarters in Marrickville in Sydney's inner west (where all their dessert and gelato flavours start life) to find out the secrets behind your favourite scoop. Messina's head chef Donato Toce has the enviable task of developing new flavours and it's a job he said means taking inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. 'Designing a flavour can come from anywhere – from a meal you had the night before (or more likely a dessert) to a more classic dessert, like we've done apple pie, tarte tatin,' Mr Toce told 'All these things where we've been able to sort of mash-up and put into a gelato. 'Flavours come from everywhere, customers give us flavours, staff give us flavours, so it's basically about putting things together that work in a scoop,' he said. 'For us it's really important that when we introduce a flavour or give a description of a flavour it has everything in that one scoop.' Mr Toce has developed a mountain of specials over the years but said this rollout allows shoppers to get the gelato experience in the convenience of supermarket shopping. 'Super Flan is one of our biggest selling specials that we make, it's real simple gelato but it's just super tasty. It's really rich custard gelato slathered with dulce de leche. This one here P.B. is really cool, it's just peanut on peanut on peanut.' Asked if there are any flavours that are off limits, Mr Toce said a brief experiment into tomato sorbet would likely never be repeated, but two varieties they'll never stop making 'because our roots are Italian' would be the hazelnut or pistachio flavours. 'They're definite, non-negotiable,' he declared. 'One of my favourite flavours is a classic Italian one, it's called fat clemenza, It's a ricotta gelato with smashed cannoli through it, just the Italian heritage for me is killer,' he said. Founder and father-of-two Nick Palumbo said the milestone drop celebrates Messina's 20-year journey from a single Darlinghurst store to a household name and celebrity favourite. During her recent tour, pop star Dua Lipa was spotted at Bondi Messina enjoying a scoop of salted coconut & mango. Head of brand and marketing Sian Bishop believes Messina is about as close to real life Willy Wonka as you can get and with the brand's innovation and expansion will likely only become more fantastical into the future. 'It's a brand of many parts. We have so many things going on here, which is the beauty of it right? We're always pushing the boundaries to try and find something new and creative that other people aren't doing,' Ms Bishop said. 'We're always doing custom product development, like we recently launched our gelato Easter egg, which was like a one-kilogram gelato chocolate Easter egg, all handmade here.' For the above-and-beyond gelato enthusiasts, Messina welcomes members of the public to check out the Sydney headquarters first-hand. 'We now have a wine bar downstairs, I don't know of anywhere else doing that. We really want people to come and see what we're working on so we're opening up the HQ, people can take themselves on self-guided tours, where they can scan QR codes and they'll play videos of what's happening in the kitchen and what all the machines do,' Ms Bishop said. 'We also do an in-depth behind-the-scenes tour once a month on a Wednesday, which you can book on our website and that's a full walk through with Donato and the team. 'We start off with a drink, come through the store, go behind the scenes in the kitchen, get to see how it's made, get to see how the cakes are made, get to eat a lot of ice cream and a lot of chocolate,' he added.
