One summery Spring evening, a sweet tooth struck me. OK it was tonight. Eliminating chocolate covered espresso beans as a foolhardy evening snack, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe a Bar Gelato, made by San Francisco-based Gelateria Naia, could remain in my freezer. A friend had brought a few flavors of these popsicle-style gelato bars over a few weeks earlier.

I didn’t really think there was one, but as I peered past the frozen Indian dinners and vegan meatballs, lo and behold way back sat a Bar Gelato. Not just any, but a Recchiuti Burnt Caramel. A smile crossed my face and as I visited the company’s website and soaked in their simple, beautiful, gelato bar-centric design and writing…yet as I tore open the wrapping.

An Artisan Food Well Done

For all aspiring popsicle entrepreneurs, here is why oh why I am in love with this brand:

1) The California maker-direct flavors — not one but TWO from my favorite farmer’s farm, along with many other California farmers named by name.

2) Superlative flavors. Hello, the Recchiuti Burnt Caramel flavor truly eats like frozen burnt caramel. Why it never occured to me to eat such a thing — but booya why not? So good. And a signature flavor of Recchiuti Confections. Perfect pairing.

The grainy Pistachio flavor from the nice Fiddyment Farms, a family farm near Davis has no relation to that dyed green pistachio ice cream you often see.

3) Amazing website highlights the products visually while communicating just enough information for the ice cream fanatic. You can see in this layout how important the farmers are to their brand. Seen together, we get the gist they really enjoy connecting with fellow producers to make something better than the sum of the parts.

4) Gorgeous design and labels. The frilly edges and nice paper choice for the labels scream quality just as much as their non-ice cream gelato.

5) The perfect size. The gelato really is more pleasing (to me) than ice cream. Light but full of “real” flavors and substantial ingredients rather than a heavy cream. Yes I read that on their site but it’s true. Sometimes ice cream just seems too decadent. These bars are the perfect medium between fruit juice bars and ice cream.

All in all a lovely way to kick off summer and a perfect model for aspiring food entrepreneurs to learn from. Molto buono.