Gunther Rohegger Gelato {Gelato in Rome}

I have a confession to make. I don't love gelato. Don't get me wrong, I like it just fine, I just don't, like some pals of mine, eat it twice a day love it. All I can say is it is a good thing there is not a frozen custard shop in Rome.

I have kind of a goldilocks thing going on when it comes to gelato. The weather can't be too hot or too cold. I prefer super creamy, clean flavors (have you had gelato made from buffalo milk?) over icier fruitier ones. On one of the first real warm summer days I spent the afternoon at Gunther Rohegger's gelato shop just behind the Pantheon tasting twenty five (yes, you read that correctly 25) different gelato flavors.


We began what was billed as a vertical tasting with a glass of water that claims what was billed as the cleanest water in Europe. This is also the same water that is used in making the gelato and granita. And then off we went on a flavor adventure.

The first flavors were dairy free fruit and nut sorbets that are made with locally sourced, seasonal fruit, like lemons from Sorrento, mulberries from Sperlonga and Piedmontese hazelnuts, sweetened with agave and blended into creamy, refreshing sweetness. Next we moved to the extra rich buffalo milk gelato with lemon and mint which was a perfect combination of creamy and zing. We tried simple fior di latte and luxurious vanilla (which is sourced in Bora Bora) spicy Indonesian cinnamon and balsamic tinged strawberry. We had not even gotten to the chocolate yet.

All of the chocolate flavors are made with Domori chocolate, some of it single estate, some grown exclusively for Gunther, all of it rich and nuanced and full of flavor. The Tanzanian chocolate has notes of chestnut wood and Peruvian chocolate is bright and floral.

Some of the flavors would be fantastic additions to an elegant dinner party. Imagine a palate cleanser of buffalo milk with cocoa nibs or a pre-dessert of alpine milk fior di latte infused with essence of pine.

There are three outlets in Rome where you can sample Gunther's imaginative gelato.
Open every day from 10:00 until 2:00

Via dei Pettinari, 43
Piazza Sant'eustachio 47
via Due Macelli 108