HOLEY GOES COLD AND CREAMY BEST BREAD, NOW BEST GELATO?
With cheesecakes and froyo on the rise in this city, there hasn’t been much movement in ice cream and even less so artisanal gelato. So when I heard that Holey Artisan Bakery, which I had previously dubbed the best bakery in Bangkok, was opening an artisan gelato store, I immediately ditched my routine appointments with Llao Llao and Pablo to go try it out.
The Holey Gelato stand is located on the ground floor of Asoke’s I nterchange building. There, you’ll more likely find Jacopo Bioni, Holey’s one and only gelato artist, making sure everything’s in check. “Jaco”, originally from Verona — yes, the city of Romeo and Juliet, thank you high school education — grew up in a gelato-making Italian family and has been creating gelato professionally in Asia for the past few years. With a background like this, you can bet that not a single drop of his work dares to be artificial. Jaco extracts flavours directly from raw ingredients like fruits, candies, nuts, herbs and spices, giving us something undeniably richer and more natural in taste.
The gelato shop carries the classics like chocolate, vanilla, coffee and pistachio, as well as more contemporary creations based on ingredients like Nutella, After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins and my personal favourite, apple pie. Jaco’s signatures, however, are the Mandarin sorbet and the saffron risotto-flavoured gelato, inspired by a famous dish in the gelato maker’s hometown. The rice crisps in the latter will make you think you’re actually having lunch. It’s confusing, but in a good way. Jaco hints that more savoury flavours, specifically something localised, are in development. So look for more foodie gelatos in the near future.
Beyond the heavenly flavours and creaminess, Holey Gelato impresses with an authentically gung-ho staff that really won’t let you walk by without trying a few spoons of great gelato. The Holey brand just can do no wrong.
Scoops run from B50-80. You can also get half-kilo and one-kilo tubs of gelato for B300 and B550, respectively. Holey Gelato is open 9am-9pm on weekdays and 11am-8pm on Saturday. Visit fb.com/holeygelato.