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When I did my post about the opening of Grom gelateria here in Paris, they weren’t open when I put it up, so I was unable to provide a photo that I took. And I used one I swiped from their website, with their permission.

guido & federico

In the interest of fairness to my readers, just for you, mind you, I went back. You see, on the opening day it was pouring rain, and I left my camera at home. I felt so bad that I had to go back several times, mind you, to shoot some original photos. Which coincidentally, was when the gelato-makers and owners, Guido and Federico, were in town as well.

So I used this opportunity have a few conversations with them. As they would describe how they made a particular gelato in their line-up, I’d follow up with a question, and invariably Guido would respond, “Oh? Would you like a taste?”

“Um…why yes, I would…grazie…grazie…” I’d stammer back.

Then he’d grab a paddle, lift the lid, and start smearing. Needless to say, I kept those questions coming. And soon I found myself brimming with questions. And lots of them.

yquem & gelatochocolate gelato

But eventually I began running running out of things to ask, so I started in with a few other, more serious, queries. Like…

“Do you always use raspberries in your raspberry sorbetto?”

“Is the Crema di grom, with crumbled polenta cookies, a good pairing with the crackly almond nougat?”

“What’s the different between the flavor of your chocolate gelato and your chocolate sorbetto?”

“Does it matter that you use special hazelnuts from Langhe? And, is that difference actually discernable by…uh…taste?”

And sure enough, out came the paddle, and Guido’s arm would start scooping away.

mister grom

On my last trip, I make it back for a press day, when the sun was trying it’s best to shine. When Guido saw me coming, he yanked out his paddle and smeared a big blob of a very special gelato he’d made for invited members of the French press—and crashers, like me—then he poised an unreasonably large-sized blob of panna next to it, a big, huge blob of freshly-whipped Italian cream.

Yquem gelato

If you go, I don’t think you’ll find the Château d’Yquem gelato he was scooping on the menu. But you will find plenty of other flavors. They did share with me that the wild blueberry sorbetto is one of their most expensive, elusive, and delicious flavors to produce. And yes, I had to taste it twice since I wanted to confirm that it was, indeed, delicious.

So my sincerest apologies for posting a photo that I didn’t take previously, but I did my best to go back and compensate my transgression. I hope you can see it your hearts to forgive me. Because if not, I’ll go back.

Related links:

The Glaciers of Paris

The Easiest Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe Ever!

Molto Gelato in Bologna

Pistachio Gelato

What is gelato?

Ice Cream Tips

White Chocolate & Fresh Ginger Ice Cream

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50 comments

    • Mona

    Oh. My. You ARE living the sweet life, aren’t you? I am so jealous! :-)

    Thanks for always giving me a peek into the good life in Paris….

    • Sean

    OH, My! I might have to make a trip just to watch him scoop…I’m sure the gelato is beyond compare, but such cute proprietors. must make the trip double special.

    New reader here and enjoying your site very much!

    • Marguerite

    I have just realized that my hotel at which I will be staying in a few weeks is a mere 5 min away from GROM. And to think that if you hadn’t gone through the trouble of testing all this ice-cream for us, I would never have found out. You have all my gratitude!

    • Linda

    Seriously, I think you should make another trip there and get a picture of the wild blueberry sorbetto. Since you brought it up, I would really like to see it. As far as pricing, would you say in the Starbucks range? Nike? iPhone? Dior? In other words, would you be willing to pay for those samples if you weren’t our intrepid blogger/phtographer/foodster/journalist?

    • Judith in Umbria

    Yeah, well I’d go back too if they would twinkle at me in that exact way. While they are all very nice in Florence, I’d say they were nicer to you in Paris.

    That blueberry thingie stains fierce.

    • frenchtart

    i think the real question is, who’s the hottie in the pictures?

    • Lucy

    Luckily for us, we have two Groms here in NYC. I’ve made three trips there from the ‘burbs just this week alone. But alas! I did not see any of the wild blueberry sorbet this summer…I wonder if they bring that flavor to the US at all??

    • Amy

    Well if you do go back.

    Make sure to get some extra large heaping slabs of Gelato will ya? Big. Heaping. Slabs.

    *note to self: find GROM* : P

    : )

    • David

    Hi Linda: Sure! In fact, the double cup I had after my visit to Coffee Parisien, I bought. And gladly!

    A cup at Grom costs 3.5€, and is slightly-higher than other places in Paris. (And is probably less than one of those lattes costs?) But I don’t mind paying a bit extra when really top-notch ingredients are used. It’s not like 50 cents is gonna break the bank. And a Coke at a café in Paris costs 4€, or more, so to me, this is a better deal.

    Lucy: Don’t know what’s on offer in NY. Since it’s so hard to get those wild blueberries, maybe they’re keeping them all for us.

    Judith: I thought people in Paris were supposed to be the means ones, not the Italians…

    • Dana McCauley

    You are such a martyr! This kind of relentless research is so taxing! Sounds (and looks) like a great place.

    This gelato sounds like a much better gourmet investment than a coke anyday.

    • Bekah

    I’d just like to point out that most of your readers are women. Who gain weight. And gain it easier than you do. So I can’t decide if I should THANK you for letting us enjoy this ridiculous gelato vicariously or CURSE you for making me want some so bad…

    At any rate, it sounds worth it. :)

    • Brooke

    Hey David,

    Any good recommendations for crepes? We’re arriving this weekend and I can’t wait for a fresh crepe. I’d always buy them on the street but do you have any preferences on good creperies or street vendors who make them?

    Thx

    I’ve recommended and listed my favorite crêperies in Paris. If you use the search engine, that should take you to those posts. -dl

    • CityMinx

    I admire how much you suffer for us, your loyal readers ; )

    It may be only 10:30 NYC time, but I may have to go down to Carmine and Bleeker and get a sample for myself!

    • Mary in Texas

    Let’s see, by my calculations I should not forgive you until GROM shows up in Dallas. That should give you enough time to sample to your heart’s content. Maybe even get sick of gelato, it will be so long! I’m so jealous that my visits to Paris antedated GROM’s arrival! Ah well, can get mediocre gelato in the freezer section of upscale stores here. Not the same, but keeps the spirit alive.

    • Garrett

    I just want the guy scooping the ice cream thank you very much. Give him some ice cream to bring along as well.

    God, I should move to Paris.

    • Sarah

    Hey David, thanks to you some fellow transplants and I made it out on that rainy day for some free paddles of our own. Sam had the myrtilles sauvage with crema, and oh my – what a rich flavor! Me, I stuck with the nougat and was not disappointed. I don’t know how I could live here without your expertise! Thank you!

    • Jill

    I can only forgive you if you find a way to share tastes with your readers. My mouth is watering.

    • Susan

    The squeeky wheel gets the oil…or in this case, wheedle gets gelato. Very good!

    • ygardiner

    A blog about good food does injustice to a college student who has to put up with non-edible meals. If only there was a Grom’s nearby, I would gladly have my fill of gelato.

    • Estelle

    Hi David,

    What stood out for me was the size of the portions. When I was in Italy about twenty years ago a scoop of Gelato was half what you have pictured. I thought it so elegant. In the states bigger seems always to be better. Not so I thought back then. Are the Italians now looking more rotund than they used to? I always admired how sleek most Italians are even with all that pasta.

    As always, I love you posts, your sense of humor,your beautiful photos and your dedication to providing outstanding information for your readers.

    Merci, Estelle

    • Dawn in CA

    Yum. I’m sure my husband won’t mind if we take a special side trip during our vacation in Italy next year to visit Guido… er, I mean Grom. Perugia is not THAT far from Sicily, is it?

    • Ginger

    That special flavor looks too good for words. I can’t get to Paris soon enough…even though it is only two weeks now! Thanks for the amazing photos.

    • Susan

    With what your digging into about gelato and such over there..will there be a Second Scoop coming out anytime in the future? Yes…I mean book!

    • Murasaki Shikibu

    Are you sure you keep going back there for the gelato, David? ;) j/k

    • elizabeth

    i think im in love… though it’s unclear if that’s with grom or guido, perhaps both.

    • George

    David,
    Sadly, I’ve never had gelato, and know little about it, except for the fact that it contains less milkfat than ice cream. Would you characterize it as being similar in texture to a softserve, but maybe a bit less cooling on the tongue? What exactly makes it gelato instead of ice cream (besides being Italian, of course)?

    • Lynn T. in CA

    David:
    Chateau d’ Yquem gelato??!! I’m on my way………………………

    • krysalia

    To forgive you ? Why would we do this ? We were looking for perfection and look what we’ve got ! I’m afraid to say that we won’t accept this ! :D

    • mabel

    oh my. dont they look positively delicious?
    and the gelato too btw ;)

    • Wendy

    *fans self* With the gelato and the scoopers all looking so delicious, I’d be making daily visits if I were you!

    Seriously though, the flavors sound amazing, and I could just dive into that picture of the invite-only, special Chateau d’Yquem variety. Lucky you!

    • Andrea Ulbrick

    My gal pal and I are on the Canal St Martin and we have just google mapped Grom, we’re going tomorrow on the bikes. Merci Beaucoup!! I do hope the handsome Italian serves me..

    • David

    Andrea: I don’t think Guido or Federic will be there…although it never hurts to check. But if Laurent is there, ask him for a taste of the wild blueberry.
    And you can tell him I sent you : )

    Estelle: In Italy, I’m always a bit stunned at the portions nowadays. (But I’m not complaining!) Berthillon in Paris gives pretty small scoops, but their ice cream is so concentrated in flavor. What’s really nice is that at Grom, and at Pozzetto, another gelato shop in Paris, they’re very nice about giving tastes. I wouldn’t dare ask for one at Berthillon. And they’ve never offered, either.

    Lynn and Wendy: At around $250/bottle, I don’t think we’ll be seeing Château Yquem gelato on the menu anytime soon. So yes…lucky me. (I don’t know if I mentioned they poured me a nice, cool glass of it as well…so double-lucky me!)

    Estelle: I’ve been thinking about it, since I had quite a few recipes that weren’t included in the book. Plus plenty of others that I’ve made since then. I just need to find a reasonably-priced bottle of Yquem for experimentation..

    • Sarah

    Check out his blue eyes!!!!

    Oh yeah and the gelato looks great… but you’ll need to go back because I want to see more photos. :P

    xox Sarah

    • Mari

    I was laughing away at what an ice cream junkie you are, and then I laid eyes on that second picture of Guido and the coin dropped so to speak. H-O-T-T-I-E! Phew-wee…I almost ran out the door to Amsterdam Centraal train station and hopped on the TGV to Paris! LOL! Out of this world ice cream and a way too sexy ice cream cream maker/scooper is almost too much. I’m sure there are lines out the door…for the ice cream, of course. ;-)

    • Martha

    They really don’t make them over here in the US like they do over there. I mean the guys, not the frozen stuff.

    • Rowena

    Not enough pictures of all the gelato!! ,-)

    • Al Goldberg

    Sadly, my wife and I didn’t get to taste their stuff last week during our trip to Paris. We went for an afternoon gelato, but couldn’t get served! One worker was taking care of a large order for the woman in front of us, and another worker was studiously ignoring us despite several trips between the front and back of the store, and several sil vous plait’s on our part. Oh well, there will always be Berthillon!

    • Milena

    I was going to make some inane comment along the lines of oh! how delicious, you absolute sufferer you, and the requisite I’m jealous (yet again) phrase until, I saw that bottle of Château d’Yquem and then I lost my train of thought. And you say they invited you to a cool glass of it? Wow, last time I had me one of those was a long, long time ago and right now, the scrumptious looking gelato (and the hottie – did someone notice him?) take an absolute second place to the desire to repeat that particular experience. There are days David when you make us all suffer alongside you but we just don’t get that utmost degree of pain you yourself achieve… how I wish it weren’t so. ;-)

    • andrew

    David, you’re such a pricktease… rubbing it in again for all us poor people who live on the other side of the world sans Grom…

    So, who’s better on the ice cream/gelato front? La Maison Berthillon ou Grom? Considering you’re also full of praise about Berthillon…

    • Ms. Glaze

    David, the ice cream looks delicioso, but Guido looks downright lickable. More posts like these please… and yes, you do have to go back and take lots and lots of pictures. I’m not so sold on the Château d’Yquem flavor. Sounds interesting, but I think I’d rather sip it in the glass. Was it actually good?

    • David

    Ms. Glaze: I did prefer the glass of Yquem, which made it harder to actually taste the gelato (but I’m not complaining!) Since the best way to get wine flavor into ice cream is to concentrate it by cooking it, I wouldn’t recommend doing that with Yquem.

    And if Guido comes to NY, should I tell him to look you up?

    Andrew: Those search engines are going to find a couple of works in your comments and I’m going to get all the “Paris” Hilton traffic, rather than “Paris” Ice cream folks : 0

    But both styles of ice cream are so different you can’t compare (like comparing me, and Paris Hilton.) Like Italians, who are robust and exuberant, and Parisians, who are more restrained and intense, I would say that’s a decent comparison of the two.

    Al: Sorry you didn’t get served. Sometimes in Paris, you need to stand in front of them, and wave your hands in the air like a madman to get folks attention. And sometimes people here just aren’t in a hurry to serve guests, which I have a lot of experience with!

    btw: Are you sure you were in Grom? They don’t have a front or back; it’s just a long counter that runs parallel to the sidewalk.

    • kayenne

    Oh lord! Guido is that guy having a scoop of gelato, right? Is he attached? Such a hunk!

    • Kristina

    That gelato looks a million times better than what we have on South Beach. Guido is one of the goodest-looking-est guys I’ve ever seen. And there are a lot around here. You can tell him to start a fan club. Or pose in a fireman’s calendar. LOL! He can pretend…

    • ae-r

    Thanks David. We are currently on vacation in Paris, and after reading your initial post about Grom, we had to try it, absolutely delicious for sure.

    • French Laundry at Home

    When I first read this, I was craving gelato. Now, upon further reflection, I am moreso craving Guido. Oh my goodness….

    • drbehavior

    I hear from Dorie that in addition to her two other houses, she’s gone even more upscale and bought yet another real elegant apartment in Paris – even built a brand new kitchen as she’s told all of us –
    So, I want to know when the tooth fairy is visiting your loft and bestowing
    lavish gifts on you? You’ll likely not agree, but, I think you deserve at least
    in equal stireps what she’s accumulated.

    • Gwen K.

    I know this entry’s a while ago now, but I just wanted to share my incredible excitement at just having found out that Grom has a shop in New York, where I just moved (back to) two weeks ago!! I tried to go yesterday but, not having a moment to go, made your fantastic strawberry frozen yogurt recipe – a HUGE hit with my roommates, what with New York-grown strawberries (it was stunning). Today, though – Grom! I’m excited to see if they’ll have pink grapefruit, which was my favorite sorbetto in Italy (San Crispino) and which is apparently a specialty, according to their website. Anyway, I’ll report back, but I expect fabulous results… :)

    • fanny

    David, I shall be banned from your blog on staurday morning. I’m now craving gelato and it’s not even 10am.
    How on earth am I going to wait until noon?

    xx

    • Jeanne

    Oh my. All that whipping out of Guido’s paddle has me all hot and bothered. I think I may have to had across the Channel to Paris and go and try some of that wild blueberry gelato!! This place is now firmly on my list of destinations next time I’m in Paris.

    • Laura C

    I can attest to the fantastic gelato at Grom. I just returned from a weekend in NYC and happily tried the new Grom in the Upper West Side. While I wish I got a special flavor, the espresso was THE best I’ve ever had.

A

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