Their shops are known for making gelato in house daily, using organic Sonoma County milk, Belgian and Italian chocolate, pistachios from Sicily, hazelnuts from Piedmont, Italy, and locally sourced ingredients. For example, the new Arancia Rossa flavor, or blood orange, is made with fruit grown at JJ's Lone Daughter Ranch in Redlands, San Bernardino County. Fresh flavors, including vegan sorbet, rotate in every month.
The people behind San Francisco Italian institution, , and one of 2025's Best New Restaurants, , are getting ready to open a more casual offshoot-an all-day cafe called Bar Coto. This place will combine what this team clearly has a knack for: great food, an impressive selection of wine, and gelato. The latter has always been a summer-only offering from their sidewalk cart, Gelateria Di
First, they channeled water into shallow pits during the winter, creating ice overnight that could be easily collected. They stored the ice in domed structures called yakhchāls. These half-underground chambers had extremely thick walls made from a highly insulating type of mortar, and were surrounded by wind catchers that channeled cool air into the structure to keep the ice from melting.
