Just in time for your summer ice cream fix: Takoma Park-based gelato shop Dolci Gelati is hitting the streets Wednesday with its first-ever food truck. Chef/owner Gianluigi Dellaccio teamed up with “food truck aficionado” Sierra Georgia for the new venture, which will begin touring around popular DC truck stops such as Farragut Square and L’Enfant Plaza this week.
Dellaccio hopes the mobile operation will serve Italian-style gelato and sorbetti like you might find at streetside gelaterias in his native Italy. Pick between one and three scoops for a cup or sugar cone (house-made waffle cones are coming soon) in a rotating lineup of flavors, similar to those found at the shop. This week’s opening lineup includes choices like crème brûlée, Key lime pie, pistachio, salted caramel, and mint chocolate chip, as well as strawberry, passionfruit, and lemon sorbet. Also on the menu: fresh-squeezed lemonade and Italian iced coffee.
While Dellaccio and Georgia are just getting rolling, it sounds like they’re launching the little food truck that could. Upcoming plans include a sundae station, blenders for making shakes, and an expanded lineup of sweets such as kettle corn, pralines, macaroons, and fresh-baked cookies, which can be sold individually or fashioned into a gelato sandwich. Another more unusual combination: gelato-topped cupcake cones. Dellaccio says the shop is experimenting with baking vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet cupcakes into their waffle cones, filling them with icing, and then topping them with a flavor of your choice. The team is also hoping to make the curbside experience more like that in the shop, providing filtered water and password-protected wi-fi to use near the vehicle. Dogs are more than welcome; the partners are canine lovers (Georgia owns a bulldog named, not coincidentally, Truck) and set out water bowls for pooches. Even more refreshing for man’s best friend: dog-friendly gelato in flavors like peanut butter and sweet potato.
The truck’s inaugural stop happens Wednesday at L’Enfant Plaza, followed by Chinatown on Thursday and Farragut Friday (check out the Twitter feed for updates). Up next, look for a second brick-and-mortar shop in Shaw, slated to open in April 2014.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
