Gelato is definitely an “O food” (Check out our O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month contest)
One of my favorite gelaterias in Rome is San Crispino. I’ve talked about it and heard about it so much from others it’s a shock to me to realize that the Tour del Gelato has never stopped at San Crispino! Many people call it the “Best Gelato in Rome”, and it’s definitely one of my favorites, but you are welcome to state your own opinion. Better yet, why not blog about your favorite gelateria and add it to the Tour del Gelato?
The original San Crispino location is near the Fontana di Trevi, the Trevi Fountain and is tucked away in a small side street. When you enter, you don’t find bright lights or colors and pictures of gelato and cones dancing on the walls. Instead, it seems rather like a narrow entranceway to a house with one side being completely lined with glass partially separating you from a dozen ice cream containers sunk so that they’re flush with the countertop, and their steel lids quietly reflect the soft light from the ceiling.
Do you know the sound that those steel lids make being put back on? A solid and tampening thunk that you can just imagine everything going quiet and dark inside the container as light is robbed from it once again.
The first time I went to San Crispino, I had a feeling more that I was being granted permission to enter rather than entering a normal gelateria. When I visit Rome, I spend a great deal of time south of the Tevere, which means that even a trip to north of the Trevi fountain can sometimes seem inconvenient when there are so many other good gelaterias on the way.
Luckily San Crispino opened up a new location that is much closer to my normal Rome haunts and very convenient: directly behind the Pantheon (and even closer than Della Palma or Giolitti)! The new location is even a little more inviting to the normal gelato eater, though perhaps you’ll lose some of the reverant awe walking in as it blends into the space that is available to it. For those of you just passing through Rome’s Fiumicino airport, there’s a San Crispino in Terminal A!
As you can see from the “Today’s Specials” there are a lot of fruit flavors that seem to be favorites during the summer when they are considered more refreshing. They change their flavors quite often, especially to reflect the fruit in season. Later that week, the Blackberry sorbet was gone!
And how was the gelato?
Excellent as always. It was a scorching hot weekend in Rome, so the gelato immediately started to defrost upon serving and if I (hypothetically) went back for seconds that weekend, it was for the fruit sorbetti which were perfect to battle the heat.
Sorbetto di More (blackberry) and Lampone (Raspberry)
Crema al Cacao di Valrhona (Cream of Valrhona cocoa) and Crema di Pistachio
Sorbetto di Fichi Neri (Black Figs) and More (Blackberry)
San Crispino Gelateria
www.ilgelatodisancrispino.it
San Crispino in Rome’s Historic Center:
Via della Panetteria 42 (Trevi Fountain)
Piazza della Maddalena, 3 (Pantheon)
One more reason to go back to Rome…and soon!
Nice photos. I think the blackberry might be gone for the season. I was there on Saturday and they didn’t have any. :(
I wonder who was that lucky person that was with you that day. ha
though I am technically a purist (cioccolato fondente and fiori di latte, my favoirites), I think the slightly off-beat and creative flavors of San Crispino place this gelateria in a different arena than the rest. Take a look at August 7, LA Times/Susan Spano article… she ranks them too!
Oh…yum yum!!! I’m a chocolate chip (stracciatella) gal myself…but…
Thank you for posting this! My family and I live in Naples and we’re going to visit Rome tomorrow. Every place we visit we try to find a great gelaterria for the kiddos. Thanks again! Love your blog btw!!
This post was just what I needed today! Yesterday I spent most of the day saying “I need to gelato” which I followed by saying “I need to go back to Italy”…
WOW.. I have got to have some of that Crema al Cacao di Valrhona with the Crema di Pistachio!! Fun post. :)
By the way, this is my first time here and I have enjoyed reading some of your posts and recipes.. especially the one on the Sette Veli cake. Did you ever make it?? I would love to here about it but I couldn’t find a follow up post. :)
Ciao and I look forward to returning for the “O” recipe posts for Ovarian Cancer awareness!
san crispino is my favorite favorite favorite gelato in all of italy. their fruit flavors are obscene. i will always be a die-hard nocciola girl, but i still have dreams about SC’s plum gelato.
sigh.
Yum…I’ve written it down, so maybe I’ll stop when I’m in Rome in a couple weeks :)
YUM! I live on Vico San Crispino, but we don’t have that kind of gelato on my street unfortunately :(
I can’t even explain just how good that all looks!
I went to San Crispino this summer. It was delicious, but expensive.
I miss Rome, I miss San Crispino! They truly do have THE best gelato. My favourite flavour is pompelmo (grapefruit). *SIGH*
Is this really the best gelato place in rome?