Opening in time just for the summer heat, Pidapipo Laboratorio is the all-new flagship store on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy. After nearly a decade since their first “Test Lab” pop-up store, this is a full circle moment for the cult gelato brand.
Pidapipo has rightly earned its place in Melbourne’s gelato hall of fame with its Carlton, CBD and Windsor locations consistently serving up artisanal gelato made the traditional way from only the finest ingredients. Now, co-founder and chef Lisa Valmorbida and the Pidapipo team are looking towards the future of their retail operation with its world-first experimentation space.
Pidapipo Laboratorio is sweetening the deal by expanding its offerings to also include gelato cakes, Pasticceria items and small-batch artisanal chocolates. This foray into chocolate was first conceptualised to complement Pidapipo’s gelato range.
These organic single-origin milk, dark and chocolate blends will feature throughout the brand's Italian desserts and in the on-tap house-made sauces to top or fill your gelato cone. As for the chocolate range, think chocolate bars, slabs, scorched almonds, raspberry chocolates, pralines and truffles.
Of course, they aren’t straying too far from their gelato roots and will maintain a rotating eight-flavour gelato menu. Lisa approaches gelato as an art form and intends to utilise the newly minted shop to create experimental flavours like white chocolate with pink peppercorns. As always, everything will be made on-site in limited quantity and housed in traditional stainless steel Pozzetti (ice cream bench tins).
This new flagship store has been designed to seamlessly marry tradition with innovation. The facade of the Fitzroy shop has been maintained in all its graffitied brick glory while the inside has been gutted out and replaced with a state-of-the-art kitchen and retail space. The interior draws inspiration from Milan glamour and Italian summers with its Olivetti green and white colour palette, stainless steel accents and ceiling-wide light installation.
The setup of the Fitzroy gelateria creates a factory-style experience where both the passerby and the customer feel included. This is a homage to Pidapipo’s first store where gelato-making was visible from the street. Bringing the back-of-house to the front-of-house was designed to create a sense of theatre around the production of Pidapipo’s Italian dessert offerings.
The plans for Pidapipo Laboratorio don’t stop at the ground level though, the rooftop is set to house a micro-garden of ingredients like lemon myrtle, figs and wild strawberries to be used in future products. This summer urban beekeeper Honey Fingers will install custom beehives to produce honey for Pidapipo’s creations downstairs. Fresh ingredients has always been a pillar in Pidapipo’s gelato philosophy, so ingredient cultivation feels like a natural evolution.
The all-new store will open on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy this Friday December 2, head over here for more information.
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Image credit: Pete Dillon (supplied)