A Look Around L'Albero Dei Gelati; Bringing Great Gelato and More to Park Slope
Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 3:59PM 
L'Albero Dei Gelati opened their first stateside satellite last Thursday on 5th Avenue in Park Slope. The Italian import has three locations in Italy and each, including the new Brooklyn location, borrows from the Slow Food Movement that started in Piedmont in the 80s. L'Albero's mission is to source ingredients locally and from farmers who practice sustainable farming. The gelato is the main draw here, but L'Albero also serves coffee, beer and wine, meat and cheese, excellent panini (like the corteccia with mascarpone, lardo, dark chocolate, and black pepper), and bakes their own bread/pastries in-house. The gelateria opens at 10am on weekends, 11am during the week. Cantelope sorbet for breakfast anyone?
The gelato window conveniently opens up to the sidewalk a la 24-hour slice joint.
The flavors on offer are traditional and seasonally inspired, but look for the ocassional savory ingredient to makes its way into the case, i.e. arugula, white pepper, blue cheese, and asparagus.
We settled on a small ($4.75 for two flavors) vanilla and hazelnut for our first sample. The texture is exceptional - creamy, rich, and smooth. This is due in large part to minimal overrun (air worked into the base during churning). L'Albero gets it just right, and when stored at the proper temperature, as it is here, the final product is unctuous and decadent. We've had better vanilla gelato before, but the hazelnut was some of the best we've had.
Walking into the cafe.
Provisions are available for sale next to the charcuterie/cheese/pastry case.
A look at the counter in back. Gelateria to the right, cafe to the left.
Seating in the back of L'Albero.
L'Albero also has a backyard that seats about 20.
Park Slope, Slow Food, gelato, l'albero dei gelati
Reader Comments (1)
I'm a sucker for gelato. Going to have to head right down there and try it today! Because, you know, why not.