What’s Up: Getting the Scoop

It can be argued that ice cream and gelato season is never really over in Louisiana.

Did your neighborhood sno-ball stand throw its window open in February? Have you already shoved your boots into the back of your closet? Are you sweating right now? It’s OK—we all are.

Nobody knows year-round frozen treats quite like Mario Lozanov, owner and flavor mastermind at City Gelato. The mobile gelateria pops up around local festivals and hotspots like parks and the farmers market all year ’round, and pints of Lozanov’s handcrafted gelato always stay stocked on shelves across Baton Rouge.

While the work never stops for Lozanov and his team, the approach of summer brings plenty of new flavors—and hordes of customers—to the stand and the freezer aisle.

March saw three new flavors introduced in stores for the spring and early summer months. Amaretto is a smooth and satisfying combination of chocolate, hazelnut and almond. Mascarpone is an Italian answer to Creole cream cheese that reminds Lozanov of the homey flavors of tiramisu and cannoli. The new zingy lemon sorbet is made with locally grown lemons.

“We’re quality first,” Lozanov says of the City Gelato team’s creative process. “We really use local, fresh ingredients. Real cream and sugar from Louisiana. I don’t think [any other brands in grocery stores] use fresh fruit. … It’s labor intensive; we have to cut peaches—which takes hours and hours to do—or strawberries or any other fruit we’re breaking down. Fresh flavors distinguish us.”

Coming to shelves in May will be the new birthday cake flavor, with rainbow sprinkles mixed into the gelato. By July or August, expect to see the City Gelato cart churning out its seasonal signatures like fresh cantaloupe and fresh peach flavors with peaches from Independence and cantaloupe from Opelousas and Ponchatoula.

City Gelato’s already slinging the frosty goodness from the cart every weekend at BREC and family events at the Manship Theatre, neighborhood festivals and art hops and the Red Stick Farmers Market. Starting in May, catch the cart outside the Main Library at Goodwood every day. facebook.com/citygelato

This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of 225 Magazine.