Gelato, Italian Style, at Grom

Upper West Siders had a new store to flock to this weekend: Grom, a gelato shop that opened on Broadway between 76th and 77th Streets. There were lines, and our own Joe Schumacher braved the UWS foodies and sweet-toothed for a taste.

I ordered a small luna rosso, which was the flavor of the month. It was quite good --dense and creamy. It was also expensive --$4.75 plus tax for that a small cup. That cup, by the way, is made of biodegradable paper, unlike the plastic cups used by Il Laboratorio del Gelato on the Lower East Side.

However, Joe warns that the $4.75 might prohibit people from being regulars.

The Grom concept is that its gelatos are made in Italy, then shipped to its shops where they are "creamed on the spot," according to the company website. The Food Section adds, "All the sorbets are made of 50 percent fruit and 50 percent San Bernardo mineral water from the Italian Alps, and the company has acquired land where it is planting its own melons, strawberries, peaches, pears, and figs."

More Grom-analysis from Eater.

Photograph by Cititour

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Food on May 7, 2007 5:27 PM

Comments [rss]

do as I say

This is New York. We invented elitist hypocrisy. Now I'm off to buy carbon offsets.

MasPinaSarap

BEST GELATO I'VE GOTTEN OUTSIDE OF EUROPE!

alps smalps

transporting water over the ocean is a waste of energy. nyc tap water is just as good as the goat pee water from italy.

Joe

The terms ice cream and gelato seem to be used loosely. Ice cream has a lot more butterfat (from cream) than gelato. However, except for super premium varieties, ice cream usually also has more air whipped into it than gelato. With less air whipped into it, the lower-fat gelato can carry a very intense flavor yet still feel creamy.

jojo

can someone tell me what the difference between gelato is and regular ice cream? It tastes the same to me. and the whole foods houston has really good gelato too.

Joe

greenwasher, I mentioned the paper cups, not Grom.

As you point out though, they do fly all their ingredients from Italy, which is odd since they are big supporters of locally-grown food.

JoeBoy

Are there styles of Gelato other than Italian? Do tell!

greenwasher

they talk about 'biodegradable paper cups' when they are transporting all the ingredients and WATER from the other side of the planet?! what a waste of smog and carbon emmissions.

scoboco

My kids and I went on Sunday afternoon, waited 30 minutes, thought it was the best gelato—the best frozen treat?—we've ever had.

Totally lived up to hype. Can't wait to go back.

My full review (including menu) is here:

http://scoboco.blogspot.com/2007/05/grom.html