Capogiro Gelato is a small artisanal gelateria based in Philadelphia. The family-run business works on a very small scale, producing gelato in batches of just 1-3 gallons using almost entirely locally sourced ingredients. Their milk comes from grass-fed, hormone free cows and the produce they use is hand picked, varying from season to season and delivered directly from farms and by growers. This seasonality means that the gelateria has more than 250 different flavors in its repertoire, all produced with the same devotion to high-quality that is applied when sourcing ingredients.

The attention to detail is well worth it. Capogiro Gelato makes some of the best that I can remember tasting.

I recently sampled a few flavors and the first thing that strikes you about this gelato is the intensity of each flavor. The second thing is the incredible smoothness of the product, especially with the fruit flavors, which the vast majority of ice creams, sorbets and the like manage to turn into icy mixtures, which turn rock solid after freezing. This gelato remained remarkably easy to scoop even after a few days in the freezer.

Bacio is a flavor that you'll find at many gelaterias, a popular combination of chocolate and hazelnut that is light, with a satisfying crunch from the pieces of caramelized nuts. It was delicious, and things only went up from there. Figs with Mascarpone was rich, the sticky sweetness of the figs balanced by the mild mascarpone flavor. Black Raspberry was impossibly smooth, a berry amplified many times over. White Peach with Prosecco had a slightly pink color and was light and refreshing. Ciccola Scuro was unlike any other chocolate flavor you can think of, dense, fudgy and intensely chocolaty, as though a chocolate bar had somehow been smoothly churned into a frozen food. Mora (Lancaster Blackberry) was amazingly creamy, with a bright flavor in a wonderfully light form.

White peach was the first flavor to go, followed by the Blackberry, although the Ciccola would have been second had tasters been able to handle more than a few bites at a time.

I will concede that the photo above does not do justice to the stunning color of the blackberry gelato, and it only just captures the tiny flecks of fruit in the white peach gelato, but the one thing it does allow you to see very clearly is the satiny smoothness of the product.

In short, Capogiro makes outstanding gelato. If you live in Philadelphia, be sure to check them out at:

• 119 S. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103 or
• 117 South 20th St., Philadelphia, PA 19107

If you're not in that part of the country, you can also order online