Gelato Gilberto, which sells made-from-scratch artisanal gelato, will reopen for its 16th year tomorrow, March 1, with a Carnevale party from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at its Clifton location (2240 Frankfort Ave.), although the store will reopen for business at 1 p.m.
The shop’s Norton Commons location (9434 Norton Commons Blvd.) is slated to reopen on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
The family-friendly party will have coloring sheets, Carnevale-themed food, gelato, and authentic Italian confetti and streamers. Guests are encouraged to wear costumes and Carnevale masks and will be able to make their own masks during the event.
Owner Kristin Gilbert also told LEO about a few new developments coming to the Frankfort Avenue location, one of which is a new outdoor "Gelato Garden" that will debut this spring.
The gelato shop closed for the season in early January, right before the owners, husband and wife Justin and Kristin Gilbert, left for a trip to Italy, where they used to live. (As the Gilberts noted in one of their vacation posts on Facebook, even most gelato shops in Italy close for the winter.)
During their trip, the Gilberts had originally planned to go to Rimini to attend SIGEP, the world’s largest gelato-focused trade show, but it was canceled due to the omicron variant. Even so, they were able to tour Venice and the Dolomites, among other destinations, to further their knowledge of Italian food and culture.
Like most business owners, the Gilberts were affected by COVID as well.
Kristin Gilbert told LEO, “In the early days, we were very, very cautious. We employ a lot of teenagers, and as a mom and literally a mom and pop store, I felt very responsible for exposing any kids to possible infection.”
At their original store in Norton Commons, the Gilberts installed a revolving no-contact walk-up window based on a design that Kristin’s dad created in the 1970s, although the window isn’t currently in use. She told LEO that not only was it a COVID safety precaution, it was also fun for children because the gelato “would appear magically.”
Tomorrow’s reopening party will involve mask-making — “the fun kind of masks,” Gilbert said, although “other kind[s] of masks are also welcome. Any masks that anyone wants to wear, we're happy with.”
Now that their hiatus is over, the Gilberts are looking forward to sharing their new knowledge and gelato flavors with their customers.
“We have so many lovely customers; I missed them,” she said. “They're just the nicest people. I’m just looking forward to seeing people back.”
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