‘The best gelato shop on the fourth best island in the world’. As catchphrases go, it’s not amazingly catchy, but it tidily sums up Waiheke couple Ana Schwarz and Geoff Tippett’s Island Gelato Company. With travel bible Conde Nast Traveler naming Waiheke near the top of their list of best islands in the world, tourists will likely be lining Ocean View Road to get a lick at some of the best gelato in the country over summer.
Ana and Geoff only started Island Gelato two years ago and their timing has been exceptional with tourism booming on the Hauraki Gulf island, which is attracting many well-heeled permanent residents, too. The couple were inspired to start their gelateria after a trip to Sydney where they visited the outstanding Gelato Messina in Surry Hills. They took a gelato making class in Sydney that was run by Gelato Messina founder Nick Palumbo before heading home to set up shop. Ana, you may recall, was a finalist on MasterChef in 2012, so learning to make gelato was hardly a leap in the dark and Geoff has extensive experience setting up and running cafes.
So, after kitting-out a commercial kitchen with Italian-made gelato paraphernalia they created a pop-up style shop in the heart of Oneroa out of a shipping container. Their display cabinet holds 20 flavours, but Ana has at least 80 flavours rotating through the store. Favourites like salted caramel & white chocolate, Waiheke honeycomb, and coco latte never stray far from the servery and Geoff says salted caramel is easily the most popular. “They’re mad for it, it’s a monster.”
There are no artificial flavours involved in Ana’s gelatos, with all the fruit compotes and sauces made from scratch by Ana. Flavours like Waiheke fig, Blackboy peach, Black Doris plum, heirloom green apple, tangelo, and lemon and lime are all made with seasonal fruit sourced on the island. Geoff runs the shop with a few helpers, utilising his barista skills to turn out Allpress coffees, while Ana works behind the scenes making the gelato. They also serve Al Brown’s Best Ugly Bagels with a variety of toppings so you can collect lunch and a frozen treat in one fell swoop.
Last year, they shut from June to September and went to Bali, simply because the tourist numbers drop off on Waiheke at that time of year and with the doors of their shipping container open to the elements, they turn into popsicles waiting for people to buy gelato. But the couple plan to open a gelateria in Auckland this year, and are scouting sites around the waterfront, Ponsonby and Parnell – a project that might just conspire to keep them busy over winter
Island Gelato Company
124 Ocean View Road, Oneroa, Waiheke Island
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