New Businesses Bring Games, Gelato BY ROGER MILLER Betting on the area’s reputation for good times and refined tastes, two recently opened businesses are bringing high-end gelato, classic arcade games, and craft beer — along with an intimate vibe — to a neighborhood where mom and pop shops are being replaced by chain stores selling mass-produced items. Their origins are as different as Paris and Brooklyn — but the owners of Amorino and Barcade say they decided to establish a presence in the area for similar reasons: friendly character, diverse population and ideal location. “We chose Chelsea in part because it is a vibrant neighborhood with a cosmopolitan crowd,” said Filippo Saccani, the CEO of Amorino’s U.S. operation. “They are people who like to travel, to go out, and who enjoy a certain quality of product and sophistication.” Saccani hails from a small city in Italy, where he grew up working in his parents’ gelato shop. He came to New York to open one of his own — but when he tasted Amorino’s gelato, he reached out to the founders, who decided to put him in charge of expanding their product to the U.S. Up until the Chelsea store opened a month ago, the only Amorino you could find outside of Europe was on University Place, which opened in 2011. “After getting the offer, I had to go back to Italy to ask my parents’ permission to move away,” said Cutroni with a slight Italian accent. “But they were very enthusiastic, so I moved to New York.” Working together, Saccani and Federico found the location, raised the money and began construction. While most Amorino stores have a similar look and feel, the Chelsea location (at Eighth Ave. & 18th St.) has brick walls that the owners discovered during construction, and decided to keep. Classic integrity is fine when it comes to preservation, but they draw the line at chemical preservatives. Every batch of Amorino gelato is made in Paris, France under the supervision of the company’s head chef. While the flavoring ingredients come from all over the world — vanilla from Madagascar and mango from India, for instance — the eggs, milk, water and sugar all come from the same region in France to ensure consistent quality around the world. There are no avant-garde concoctions with names
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Photos by Roger Miller
L to R: Federico Cutroni and Filippo Saccani, at the Chelsea location of Amorino (Eighth Ave., at 18th St.).
inspired by pop culture icons — just a wide assortment of smooth, naturally sourced classic flavors. That said, Amorino is not above trying out new ideas. The Chelsea location is one of the first to feature a section for macaroons — those colorful, light and fluffy cookies that the French are known so well for. As well, every so often, the owners and franchisees get together to discuss trying out new flavors. The most recent addition is called “Calamansi” — a sorbet made from a kind of small orange fruit from Asia that tastes like a combination of a lime and mandarin orange. Before taking over the store, Cutroni said he had to train for three weeks at both the University Place and Chelsea stores, practicing how to scoop gelato into the perfect flowers that are the hallmark of Amorino.
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A soon-to-be satisfied customer holds a cone of mango and raspberry gelato, formed into Amorino’s signature flower shape.
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