We wanted to track down the store associated with the tiny ‘Italian Ice’ sign we had seen on the road to Terra Nova. Rolling across the street we saw another, and followed this and some others, like a trail of breadcrumbs to the witch’s house, to a small strip mall around the corner. Not an ideal location, but evidently Nucci’s has been there for 4 years already, and they were doing some business even during the time we spent there.
Somehow the atmosphere isn’t as appealing as a lot of other Italian dessert places. It’s a bit more ‘custard stand’, by which I mean formica floors, flourescent lights, and all around cheapitude. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it keeps the prices down, of course, but as with so much Italian Ice, when they’re trying to do it right, the prices can’t help but climb.
The quality at Nucci’s pretty much justifies the prices though. We asked about the expense (before tasting) and they said the ingredients all come from Italy. I dunno if Italian stuff tastes better, but this sure tasted good. Coconut gelato was full of shredded coconut bits and then lots of coconut cream; you’d want to make this at home. Cannoli gelato was a new one on me; the gelato was flavored like cannoli filling (no chips) and then mixed with crumbled cannoli shell. A decent idea, but didn’t match the creaminess or crunchiness of a real cannoli – stick with the real thing (amusingly, they also have cannoli shells there, and you can get them to fill one with gelato for you). We had another two flavors, something chocolatey and something red, that I may remember if I can find the pictures.
Worth stopping by if you’re in the area, and remember – compared to ice cream, real gelato is lower in fat and sugar, but higher in taste!! Amazing!