In this sweltering weather, most of us have probably been tempted through the doors at a little store bang in the middle of Kentish Town Road.
And now Caliendo’s has just become the UK’s first ever Ice Cream Parlour of the Year, we’re feeling pretty smug that it officially serves the best gelato in the whole bleedin’ country. Maybe you even saw the story on BBC London news a week or so back.
Anyway, if you’re a regular, you’ll know its genuinely authentic Italian gelato is made fresh daily on site – you can even watch it being created in the lab. But did you realise the Caliendo Family has been making Gelato for over 130 years in North London?
“The Caliendo family emigrated here from Naples in late 1880s,” says co-owner Michelina Caliendo-Sear, “and immediately started a business doing what they knew best, making gelato by the traditional hand-churning method and selling it to the local community in the heart of London known as ‘Little Italy’ in Clerkenwell.”
The Kentish Town shop opened in Dec 2019 “four miles from where the original Caliendos were living – we’ve even been traced back to the 1880 census,” she says. As well as 24 flavours – strawberries and cream, orange and licorice and fior di latte to three – they pride themselves on providing “desserts and gelato cakes, as well as croissants, French crepes, Belgian waffles and Sicilian brioches.” Gelato, for the uninitiated, is lower in fat and made with more milk and less full-fat cream. So it’s practically healthy too, right?
The Ice Cream Parlour of the Year is a new annual award organised by the Ice Cream Alliance (ICA) – the industry’s trade association – so they know a thing or two.
“We’re honoured and proud to have won – especially amongst such stiff competition,” says Michelina, who co-owns the joint with Fiona Bell. “The team have worked tirelessly to deliver the very best gelato and customer service, so it is amazing to have that recognised. We’re also very mindful of the staunch support from our customers who have kept us going over these last few rollercoaster years.”
Ours is a Belgian chocolate: join the queue at Caliendo’s Gelato is at 182 Kentish Town Road. Follow @caliendos_gelato
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