As the weather warms up week by week, thoughts across Perth start turning to gelato, and the sheer breadth of stores now doing it well. We spoke to Chez De Bartolo of Chicho Gelato, one of the first to really establish a strong brand and a sense of identity in the WA market, one that continues to evolve through interesting collaborations and no shortage of ambition.
Chicho started life as a Sicilian gelato cart in 2013, and the journey since has been one of steady refinement: from a single cart to a cult Northbridge institution, and now to a facility that has taken the guesswork out of every batch without losing an ounce of the artisanal process learned in Italy. But the real story is what happens before anything reaches the counter. Meringues, baklava, nougat and honeycomb are all made in house, the recipe system has been refined year on year, and the team has just moved production into a purpose built lab in Mount Lawley, designed with Bosske Architecture, that puts the whole process on display. We sat down to talk about that build, the flavours that are hardest to get right, and why an artisanal process is still the thing separating gelato from ice cream.
Lawley Production Lab was designed from the ground up with production in mind. What did that design process with Bosske Architecture actually involve?
We completely outgrew our Northbridge kitchen, and it was cramping our creativity. We needed a larger kitchen to grow and develop the product and the product lines. A site in Mount Lawley came up and we jumped, because we realised we could not only build our dream production lab but also add a shopfront, so patrons could see the magic unfold. We have always been about transparency and visibility, and the idea that this space would let us invite people into our kitchen made total sense. Centralising production was also important to us, to make sure the highest quality is maintained across everything we make.
Bosske were fantastic at understanding our intention and our kitchen requirements. Caroline from Bosske Architecture designed Bannister Downs Creamery down south, a spectacular purpose built facility that not only looks impressive but blends beautifully into the Northcliffe landscape. We wanted to marry production with the customer experience and show off the lengths we go to in the kitchen. We are all about transparency and have nothing to hide.
You make so many components in house, meringues, baklava, nougat, honeycomb, before they even become gelato. Which of those is the most technically demanding, and why?
The two trickiest items are the nougat and the honeycomb. Nougat is a fail if you don’t get the temperature exactly right, and honeycomb burns easily because we take it right up to the edge. We also painstakingly enrobe the honeycomb in white chocolate so it doesn’t leach into the product. Jams and variegates are always a bit of a challenge too. If they don’t have the right texture and are too runny, they don’t hold in the product and can ruin a whole batch. I recently bought a new piece of kit that measures sugar concentration, which helps us get the freezability right on the variegates. Very exciting.
What’s the biggest technical difference between the Sicilian gelato carts you started with in 2013 and the production you’re running today?
We are much more refined now, and there is far less margin for error. We have a wonderful new recipe calculation system that takes the guesswork out of the product, and we now have the room and the breadth to run trials before anything hits the front counter. It’s fantastic.
That said, underneath it all it is still the same artigianale process we learned in Italy. We still do every step, pasteurise, age, churn, blast chill and serve. That process is what makes the product gelato, as opposed to ice cream.
Chicho has genuine cult status in Northbridge. Tell us about your customer.
The best thing about our Northbridge customers is that there is no typical stereotype. We get uni students, theatre goers, night owls and all kinds of families. We’ve had the privilege of watching families grow, from babies to teenagers, over the years. Our intention from the start was to build a family business institution, and we were always inspired by the likes of Pellegrini’s in Melbourne, which paved the way for Italian food in this amazing country we call home, Australia.
What does the brand need to protect as it grows, and what are you happy to let evolve?
The brand needs to protect quality above everything else. Our intention is to make the best gelato, and by best I mean best in our own eyes. Our customers are our critics, but we are our own biggest critics. We will never put something in the front counter that we are not proud of. I am still tweaking and adjusting recipes to this day, looking for any way they can be improved.
As for IP, recipes and copycats, there is nothing you can do about people who copy you. The only thing we can do as a business is keep looking forward and keep creating. Don’t look sideways and don’t look back. We need to stay at the forefront, keep pushing creatively, and have fun in the process.
Walk me through it. From the moment a flavour idea comes up in conversation to the moment it’s served in store, how quick is that turnaround?
I usually work to a four month menu plan, based on seasonal ingredients and the time of year. A custard crumble flavour, for example, belongs in winter rather than summer, while mango comes in over summer.
I start by researching and developing a recipe for the gelato base, because getting the texture right there is key. Then we test and add any inclusions, and keep it in the counter for a day to see how it scoops, and of course to taste it properly.
What slows a new flavour down? Is it sourcing, testing?
Both. Sometimes I can’t get ingredients readily. This month’s special, the Ube Coconut, features an ube gelato layered with a coconut gelato, and pure ube was an absolute mission to source. I managed to get my hands on some at the last minute. A lot of ube on the market has added colouring and is mixed with purple sweet potato, which is more vibrant but has a different texture and flavour profile. At Chicho we always like to work with pure ingredients. It makes recipe formulating easier, and I don’t like putting strange synthetic ingredients into the product, for obvious reasons.
Beyond sourcing, getting the recipe right was difficult, since ube is a tuber and it was hard to get it into the gelato without the texture turning grainy and crumbly. It’s a bit like putting mashed potato into gelato. We had to change a few things in the process to fix it. To put it plainly, we will be glad when this flavour of the month is finished. Love the honesty there, and good on you for giving it a go.
How important is seasonal produce to what you do, and how does that shape the flavour calendar?
Hugely important. You always want to showcase fruit in season. We have regular seasonal specials that return to the menu, from mandarin, blood orange and cactus fruit to mango, watermelon and peach.
Who are the local producers you work with, and how did those relationships start?
We try to work directly with growers. We have a relationship with Jeremy from WA Yuzu, a mandarin grower, and we get our peaches in summer from Canning Orchard. I also have a blood orange supplier who has the best blood oranges in the state, and I basically take his whole crop. Last year the birds decimated the orchard and we didn’t have any, and the product just wasn’t the same without them.
Is there a producer or ingredient relationship that’s shaped Chicho’s identity more than people realise?
The flavours we forage ourselves are the most satisfying, from cactus fruit to mulberries. It’s a bit like our blood, sweat and tears are in the product. You can’t really buy those fruits in the quantities we need, so we go out and pick them ourselves to make sure we get them at their best, and in the yield we need.
Where are you loving to eat and drink in Perth right now, and where’s your go to for a quick, savoury feed?
We’re suckers for Monsterella, Capri and Wise Child Wine Store. Di Chiera is our staff lunch for a Conti roll, and an Italian sausage in a bun at Stirling IGA is always a winner.
Do you have a favourite restaurant or gelato spot in Rome?
We haven’t been in a long time now. We used to go every year when we were living in London. A poignant memory from 2010 was dinner at Roscioli, the Roman deli that turns into a wine bar at night, where we ate burrata with shaved white truffle for the first time. A total gamechanger. Luckily, burrata is now made right here in Perth by the great La Delizia. For gelato, our favourites at the time were Come il Latte, Fatamorgana and Gelateria dei Gracchi.