Wednesday, Jun. 25, 2008
Dining Out: The Big Chill
When the sidewalks are steaming this summer, cool off in a refreshing and natural way with fruit or chocolate freezes mixed up fresh at Giordano’s Italiano in the heart of downtown San Luis Obispo
Comments (0) | 
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeDining Out
When San Luis Obispo County was sweltering in last week’s heat wave, I stumbled into an oasis amid the steamy shops and crowded streets in downtown San Luis Obispo.
Giordano’s Italiano is a charming new fruit freeze shop that serves icy snacks made from fresh whole fruit or chocolate. Owner Dean Giordano makes each of the six flavors on-site twice a week using no artificial ingredients. As the heat wave continued, I had all the excuse I needed to return several times.
The display counter of freeze flavors looks similar to a gelato shop with each icy flavor decoratively displayed with its scooper. Behind the counter, a juicer is filled with oranges, ready to provide a new batch of the incredible orange flavor.
Giordano says when older customers taste the freezes, they are brought back to their childhood when Italian fruit freezes were made fresh on the spot and not packed with artificially flavored corn syrup.
Old World charm
Giordano captures this Old World way of doing things by creating the sweet snacks regularly by hand in his shop. He also pays tribute to his
The exterior of Girodano’s Italiano on Morro Street in San Luis Obispo. Above right, quarts of the frozen treats are available for takeout.
great-grandfather, displaying a large framed photograph of him with an ice cream cart in front of the Capitol in Sacramento.
On my first visit with friends, Giordano greeted us with samples of his orange freeze. Left to my own tastes, I wouldn’t have considered this simple citrus flavor, instead preferring chocolate, pineapple or strawberry.
Plenty of fruity flavors
But the orange was so fabulous, refreshing and sweet, that I thought no other flavor could possibly be as good. But then I tasted the limon, a blend of lemon and lime. On a hot day, it doesn’t get any better than limon…until you try it mixed with the bomberry—a blend of blueberry and raspberry — that tastes like the ultimate frosty raspberry lemonade.
The strawberry flavor is sweet and light with tiny seeds adding a bit of texture to the icy freeze. Once I mixed it with pineapple and orange and went back and forth figuring out which flavor was king.
Chocolate lovers
Chocolate, the only flavor that contains milk, is a must-try for any chocolate lover. It’s created from melted Ghirardelli chocolate and whole milk that’s infused into crushed ice. While decadently rich, it manages to remain lighter than ice cream.
Giordano says he’s been trying to create new chocolate flavors and would like to add an espresso variety that would be the ultimate mocha icy freeze. Starbucks, watch out.
For eaters of all appetites, Giordano’s offers three sizes served in clear plastic cups that range in price from $2.50 to $4.50. There are also quarts available to take home for $10.
Any flavor could be mixed with alcohol and used to create the ultimate fresh cocktail for a summer party, a far better alternative to a syrupy, processed drink mix.
Reach Dawn White at 781-7946.
What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
- Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
- Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
- Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
- Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
- Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
- Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
- Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
- Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.