GelatiNico

We did the rounds of the best Venetian gelato shops and here's our ranking.

🥇Gelateria Il Pinguino, between Arsenale and Giardini. The place, run by Aiko Barbazzo, doesn't look like much … and yet! The owner combines the rigorous Japanese precision of her maternal origins with the gelato mastery of her paternal heritage to pull off an unstoppable modern and cutting-edge proposition juggling with raw materials of uncompromising quality. Special mention for the melting chocolate - absolutely crazy - the pistachio, the hazelnut and the little indulgence "Slurp" (a decadent blend of the three previous ones!)

🥈Here, opinions differ so we're going with a tie between Gelatoteca Suso and Gelato Gallonetto. Both located near Rialto. Suso is less bold in the intensity of its flavors but offers more choice and is overall always pleasant. A delightful Manet (pistachio cream and gianduja), a very successful pistachio "with real bits of pistachio inside"… Gallonetto is perhaps more refined but also more hit-or-miss … we were blown away by the coffee but disappointed by the hazelnut, a bit too cloying …

🥉Third place goes to Nico, at Zattere. Let's be clear, it's very good and we'd be thrilled to find it around the corner from our place … but it falls short of the other three. So the gelatos are very good but don't manage to move us all the same … Plus, the place is overrun by hordes of tourists not always known for their good manners.