Noci Gelato

Noci Gelato, Dessert, Mill Valley
May 28, 2016

P:
Sweet cream and black cherry

J:
Milk chocolate and salted almond


Notes:
Where do you go on a hot, sunny day in Mill Valley?  Plenty of places, I'm sure, but we stumbled across this gelato place and had to give it a try.

The first time I ever had gelato, I was in Italy with my family.  It was very warm, we were there in late spring, I believe, and we came across an ice cream a gelato shop.  I was drawn to the hazelnut flavor, nocciola, over a more familiar one like chocolate or vanilla; perhaps I liked the challenge of a foreign word, or maybe I had Nutella in mind at the time, who knows.  But, when I took that first bite, ice cream frozen dessert as I knew it changed forever.  This was richer, creamier, and more full-flavored than any ice cream I'd ever had - and I knew good ice cream - I grew up eating fresh strawberry ice cream right out of the churn during hot Kansas summers.  After returning from Italy, I was on a mission to find gelato, but couldn't.  It wasn't until I moved to California about 10 years (?) later that I found anything that came close (at Gelateria Naia).

Surprisingly, gelato is actually less rich in fat than ice cream.  It uses more milk than cream, but it's churned at a slower speed resulting in a less airy, more dense texture.  Because it's lower in fat, it's served at a warmer temperature, ready to melt in your mouth.  When it does, the flavor is more intense, since there's less butterfat to coat your palate and interfere with your taster.  Don't get me wrong, ice cream is still an amazing thing, but gelato can beat it at its own game.

Except this stuff at Noci; I was pretty disappointed with this place.  They did not have hazelnut flavor (WHA?!), so I settled for salted almond (which sounded perfectly delicious) and milk chocolate.  The salted almond had an unpleasant, grainy texture and no discernible salt or almond flavor; the milk chocolate tasted like frozen chocolate milk, lacking body and richness.  Patrick's choices were more successful; both the sweet cream and black cherry had a nice flavor and texture, though in my view, it still didn't compare to what I know it can be.  And surprise, it was expensive.


Next time we're in Mill Valley on a beautiful, hot, sunny day, we'll probably try to find an ice cream shop (or..?) before we'd come back here.