Eugene Mallozzi, owner of the new Italian dessert spot Gino’s Gelato, is ready to serve up scoops seven days a week at 106 Tarboro St. W.
“We moved to Wilson about five, six years ago at the end of 2018,” Mallozzi said of his family. “Maybe last year, the year before, we saw what was happening in downtown Wilson and wanted to be a part of that. It’s an exciting time to be in Wilson. We thought we’d throw our hat in.”
Mallozzi said the biggest secret to his recipe and what makes his gelato stand out as the real deal is that all his ingredients come from Italy.
“I’m mostly Italian,” he said. “My grandfather’s from Italy. So it’s Italian all the way.”
Mallozzi said he has been fascinated with gelato for years.
“We always thought about it in the past,” Mallozzi said. “We used to live in Portland, Maine. There was a gelato shop there that really impressed us. We really liked it. It was a great shop. I don’t know what he had, but we thought it was really interesting. I started looking here at what we could do.”
Mallozzi said he wanted to fill the gelato-sized hole in Wilson’s sweet treat offerings.
“We hope this is a place people can just come in and relax,” he said. “There’s no rush. There’s something for everybody. It’s not super expensive. It’s $6 for a regular cup.”
Mallozzi said he took classes at Frozen Dessert University in Greensboro to learn from master craftsmen how to make gelato. In total, he said he’s been making gelato for about a year and a half.
“They make the machine that we ended up buying, the batch freezer,” Mallozzi said. “I took some classes with them. The first day, they asked everybody, ‘What do you see yourself making?’ and everybody said ice cream all the way — everybody wants ice cream. I said, ‘Well, that definitely means we’re doing gelato.’ It’s a little more interesting. I don’t mind being different. It has a few characteristics that not everyone has tried. I thought it’d be good, positive to bring to Wilson.”
He said he’s got a good support team of people who have helped him along the way, but the equipment goes a long way.
“The machine is amazing. It does a lot of the work,” Mallozzi said. “It’s a big investment, but anybody could do it. We’re thinking about doing classes, gelato classes. I feel like the custodian. You make the batch, it makes a mess all over the place, and you’re always getting ready for the next batch.”
Mallozzi said there are some noticeable differences between ice cream and gelato.
“The biggest difference between ice cream and gelato is that there’s less fat in gelato,” Mallozzi said. “It’s mostly milk versus heavy cream for ice cream. Also, ice cream has a lot of air. Gelato just isn’t like that. It’s a little denser. You don’t really need to eat as much. The flavors are a little more intense. There’s not a lot of fat to hide that flavor. It’s still a treat just like ice cream. It’s not any healthier, still a lot of sugar.”
Mallozzi said it was difficult to find the right spot downtown.
“It wasn’t easy finding a building to buy,” Mallozzi said. “One day I saw a sign in the window and I thought, ‘This is it.’ It’s a good location. It’s not perfect, but it’s got some character. People seem to like it. We’re pretty happy with the way things turned out. We thought we’d be open by July 4, but things didn’t turn out that way.”
Along with gelato, Mallozzi also serves espresso.
Gino’s Gelato is open noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon to 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
“We’ll stay open later if something’s going on like at the Boykin (Center) or when baseball comes,” Mallozzi said. “Last night, I know, Larema had something going on so I said, ‘Oh, I’ll stay open.’ Nobody came over. Nobody asked me to stay open, but I thought well it’s just me.”
Christopher Long is The Wilson Times’ business reporter. If you have ideas for this weekly column, reach out to him at 252-265-7821 or clong@wilsontimes.com.
Dining and Cooking