At upstart Bellissimo's, under the tutelage of former Le Bec-Fin pastry chef Robert Bennett, the Jack Daniel's chocolate pays respect to a brand new world.
And Coleman Poses, owner of Chilly Philly Ice Cream, churns out an historic homage to vanilla along with vanilla malt chip.
Many restaurant kitchens also offer handmade ice cream for dessert: Chocolate habanero takes a bow at Tequila, the Mexican dining room. Daniel Stern's elegant Rae is turning out balsamic fig, S'mores and Cocoa Crispy (yes, from the cereal).
To celebrate this resurgence, Bassetts (the nation's oldest ice cream company) is hosting the city's ice cream artisans at the Ultimate Philadelphia Ice Cream Festival Saturday at the Reading Terminal Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Poses, who founded Chilly Philly in 1999, will talk about our ice cream history at 11:30 a.m.
The movement has an element of back-to-the-future about it: When the city was still young, Washingon and Jefferson were known to indulge a taste for the delicate, small-batch ices of the day.
"It's exciting being in Philadelphia with its rich ice cream history," said Capogiro's John Reitano, who believes that gelato is going to follow in the footsteps of upscale coffee.
Reitano guides Capogiro's thriving wholesale business, supplying specialty markets, restaurants and hotels as far away as Chicago and Miami.
Wife Stephanie manages their two scoop shops (at 119 S. 13th St. and 117 S. 20th) and is responsible for making the gelato. They are poised to move Capogiro into Philly's big league ice cream void. A new facility with 10 times the current capacity is pending; they are scouting sites for more retail shops.
However much they grow, the Reitanos insist, their gelato will remain handmade. They'll just need more hands.
