Overview
If you’re screaming for ice cream in Auckland, the locals know that Giapo is at the top of the city’s ice-cream leaderboard. But, whilst they’ve been dominating Auckland’s ice-cream scene for a while, the haute ice-cream bar has now achieved international recognition, being labelled as the tenth best ice-creamery in the world by leading Italian gastronomic website, Dissapore.
I clicked on the Dissapore website to try and read the review. Unfortunately I don’t speak Italian, so plugged the little spiel into the always reliable Google Translate. The result was less than sensical, the first sentence translating as “What is an Italian in New Zealand? Ice cream, of course.” But I managed to get the general gist of the article. Long story short, Gianpaolo Grazioli (Giapo's founder and Head Chef) is an ice-cream king, and his spot at number ten on the world leaderboard is well deserved.
Grazioli responded to the world ranking, saying that Giapo is honoured to be a part of the list, and mentioning his overwhelming pride upon seeing Auckland amongst the best ice-cream producing cities in the world. Grazioli’s passion is creating unique flavours (chocolate and blue cheese, anyone?) to create phenomenal ice cream whilst maintaining a sustainable business. And it appears that his dedication to detail in flavour, texture and presentation is paying off not just through satisfied customers, but through international recognition.
Amongst the rest of the top ten are the Sweet Rose Creamery in Los Angeles, Rocambolesc in Spain and The Creamery Cafe in South Africa. But for New Zealanders, not even these ice-cream institutions can beat the kiwi-inspired flavours that Giapo brings to its counters, with pavlova and kiwi, and blackberries and champagne, Giapo will always be an Auckland favourite. It might be ranked number ten by Dissapore, but Giapo is our number one.