Audio By Carbonatix
Gelato master Moreno Spangaro, whom I profiled in a 2007 cover story, sold his business as of January 1 — something he once considered unthinkable.
After years of being solicited for his recipes and potential business partnerships — and after someone even broke into the store to try to steal Spangaro’s secrets — the owner of Arlecchino Gelateria, along with his wife Marina, have sold their uber-popular artisanal gelato shop to Bob Lynn, who is the landlord as well as the owner of next-door La Grande Orange. Lynn’s son Jordan, former sous chef of Chelsea’s Kitchen, is taking over operations at the shop and has renamed it Grateful Spoon Gelato.
“I want to stay as true to his vision and quality as possible,” says Jordan Lynn, who trained with Spangaro for the past two weeks before the gelato maker returned to Italy. (Spangaro has actually been living in Italy for awhile now, checking in on the shop during sporadic visits to the States.)
Indeed, Spangaro’s standards are as high as they come; his frozen creations only utilize fresh organic fruits, custom blended chocolate, and pure pistachios. When gelato shops boasting dozens of artificial flavors were suddenly in vogue, Spangaro took pride in offering a small selection of made-from-scratch creations.
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Lynn says he’ll be using Spangaro’s recipes and changing nothing besides the name — as longtime Arlecchino fans will be quick to notice.
“Customers love the product,” he says, adding that he plans to visit Spangaro in Italy for ongoing guidance.
