Ice Cream Juggernaut Gelato Messina Is Taking Over NYC with Softville, a Soft Serve and Art Concept Store
The Sydney-born brand's first New York store pairs scratch-made soft serve with a gallery's worth of Jeremyville art on Orchard Street.
Aussie ice cream juggernaut Gelato Messina is taking over New York. From 12pm on Thursday, October 1 (New York time), the Sydney-born brand will open the doors to Softville at 137 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side — its first NYC store and a soft-serve and art concept made with long-time creative partner Studio Jeremyville.
True to Messina form, there are no pre-made mixes here, just gelato soft serve made from scratch every day with fresh milk from Ronnybrook Farm Dairy in the Hudson Valley, plus non-dairy options for anyone skipping the lactose.
The menu kicks off with five signature sundaes and rotating chef-driven specials, and a few Aussie icons have made the trip. The Pavlova Sundae layers a mango and yoghurt soft serve swirl with baked meringue, raspberry and passionfruit gels, vanilla pudding and macerated strawberries, while Messina favourite the Dulce con Churros Sundae piles dulce flan, milk crumb, warm chocolate sauce and sea salt onto dulce de leche soft serve, with hot cinnamon churros on the side.
Rather call the shots yourself? Build your own from a rotating line-up of sauces, crunches, baked additions and toppings, all made in-house daily in the open kitchen. The specials are led by Eva Wintersteen — formerly executive pastry chef at the Il Buco family of restaurants and head chef at Supermoon Bakehouse — who's working with Messina executive chef Tom Mitchell on a menu that'll change with the seasons.
"Most soft serve starts with a pre-made mix. Ours starts with fresh milk and the same techniques we've spent more than 20 years perfecting with gelato," says Messina founder Nick Palumbo. "Doing it with our friends at Studio Jeremyville, who have been part of Messina from the very beginning, makes New York feel like home."
That friendship goes back to Messina's first Sydney store in 2002, with Studio Jeremyville painting murals for its shops ever since. At Softville, the 232-square-metre space sits behind the building's original 1920s curved glass shopfront, with interiors by Sarah Carpenter and a gallery-style fit-out packed with sculpture, art installations, collectable ceramics and rotating exhibitions from Jeremyville and guest artists.
It's not just a place to grab a cone, either. The Softville Creative Club will run regular drawing clubs and workshops led by Jeremyville and guest artists, and the store's neighbours on the block include Perrotin New York, Wildair and Russ & Daughters.
Softville is open from October 1 at 137 Orchard Street, Lower East Side, New York. Check the menu and opening hours on the Softville website, or if Manhattan's a bit far, get your fix at Messina's Marrickville HQ instead.
Images: Gelato Messina | Denise Stephanie
