I just had an epiphany! Could my gelato over-indulgence have led to my pants not fitting????
NAH.
Gelato's too good to be that evil.
Anyhoo, Italian gelato has ruined me for life (just like French coffee - I used to think a Timmy's double double was delicious. Now it tastes like poop in a cup.) - ice cream from DQ just doesn't cut it.
Until I visited Vancouver's newest Gelateria. Bella Gelateria. It shares walls with the new Pacific Rim hotel but isn't part of the hotel. It does have Fairmont pricing though. $5.50 for one scoop.
I dashed in one day when it first opened because I had been anticipating its arrival for so long. I tried 'Chocolate Grand Marnier'.
O. M. G.
The gelato is rich, creamy and FRESHLY made everyday! No wonder it has a $5.50 price tag! They fly their lemons in from Sorrento each week. It's worth it though because the lemon gelato tastes like Italy. Beautiful and amazing.
I suspect he puts crack into his gelato because just the very next day I had this overwhelming craving for chocolate grand marnier. I 'dragged' the Engineer (promising him it was as good as our gelato in Sienna) but was dismayed to discover they didn't make that flavour that day. Apparently it's a hard flavour to make. They also like to change it up everyday.
I had honey nougat.
It was so good I would take a bath in honey nougat.
Oddly enough, I had a craving the day after that too! This is when I discovered they always have about four types of chocolate in store. In varying levels of darkness. Apparently the owner and gelato master specialized in chocolate. Like, as a job. Damn, I am pretty specialized in chocolate - how can I get paid for this?
I had milk chocolate.
And would you believe it? I had a craving the following day!
This time chocolate sorbetto which is made sans dairy. I poo-pooed this idea at first. Isn't the whole point of gelato/ice cream is for the creamy texture derived from dairy?
Well, this sorbetto was creamier and richer than any ice cream I have ever had!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
The evil craving that I just can't deny came back the next evening. I was at the Fairmont with a friend and just before nine I panicked. I thought that Bella closed at nine so I literally jumped up and RAN as fast as I could around the corner and down the block. A family stepped out of my way and offered me their spot in line because I clearly needed a fix.
Turns out Bella closes at 10.
Is this what it feels like to be a drug addict? You go into sheer panic if you can't get a dose (is that what they call it? Or is it a hit?).
The next day I looked not only at my bank account (which seemed to be missing about $50) but I saw an unflattering picture of my arms.
You know the saying, 'A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips'? For me it's my arms. And it appears that in only a week my triceps had become waffle cones of gelato themselves.
Time to wean myself off.
I am allowed to go ONCE a week.
Better for my arms AND my wallet.
Plus it was getting embarrassing walking in there and having them automatically get my order ready. It's been open less than a month and already I am the freak customer.
The point?
Get your ass downtown for some Bella Gelateria!
