Michelle Jaffe is the owner and gelato artisan. Barbara Grasso is the inspiration. Together they make i dream of GELATO a wonderful experience.

Each time we came home from Italy, we would reminisce about the fantastic gelato and dream about opening our own shop here in the states, never quite believing it was possible. After returning home from a trip in 2003, while craving gelato, I  researched the gelato industry. Surprised at what I’d found, that research put into motion the dream to make and serve the best and most authentic gelato on the entire East Coast.

As it turned out, Carpigiani and Fabbri, the absolute two best Italian companies for gelato equipment and spectacular flavorings were sponsoring a gelato training seminar near where we were living. Halfway thru the workshop, we knew we could make gelato and get our dream off the ground!!

I then went on to study more indepthly at a Carpigiani training school with Lucciano Ferrari, world renowned gelatatio and frozen desert technologist. There I got the start of my training and the right knowledge to make the finest gelato.

In order to create the best and most authentic gelato, the highest quality ingredients had to be used for flavors and our “base” had to be made from scratch. That way, the base would always be fresh and provide the perfect consistency and taste gelato is known for. Not to mention, we know exactly what is going into our product so we can insure quality control and keep the gelato at it’s healthy low fat level. We make our gelato daily in small batches so it is always fresh for you. Only the finest and the freshest ingredients are added to the base to give the gelato its heavenly taste. The majority of our products are imported from Italy.

You can be assured that you are getting the best quality gelato anywhere outside Italy…and it is prepared right before your eyes!

I like to think of myself as a non-traditional flavor innovator. My cravings for new sweet sensations keeps me driven to come up with all different sorts of flavors. Currently there are over 160 flavors in constant rotation. The display cabinet holds 24 flavors and those flavors change daily. Also included in the rotation are a few dairy free choices. I love seeing peoples faces light up when they give a new flavor a try. It makes everything worth while to see the smiles and hear the “umms.” I do not mind taking requests, so if there is a flavor you want, don’t be shy to ask!

Barbara’s insatiable sweet tooth also lent to other store creations. We have a large selection of gelato milkshakes , fresh fruit smoothies and coffee drink creations. Even though there is quite the selection to choose from, we don’t mind people creating there own concoctions. The i dream of GELATO motto is “ If we have it, we can make it!”

At the end of our first season, Barbara and I took a trip to Rimini, Italy to the largest, most amazing, annual gelato exposition. We never even dreamed something like this existed. It was huge to say the least. Three full days of eating, seeing and learning as much as we could. I couldn’t believe that I could actually stuff so much gelato in but I was willing to suffer for the cause! We needed two more days to see absolutely everything. While we were there, I was able to study new gelato production techniques and bring back the latest Italian taste sensations. It was also important to make new connections with lots of Italian distributors so we always have a wide variety to offer our customers. If we are lucky, we will get to go back every few years.

We feel very fortunate to be as successful as we have been. The praise and compliments we have received from everyone has been very gratifying. We want to thank everyone for coming to give us a try and for coming back time and time again .

Sincerely,
Michelle and Barbara