James Coleridge, Canadian owner of the Bella Gelateria store in Vancouver, has been awarded both the public choice award and the technical award at the Firenze Gelato Festival 2012. The competition competes gelato masters from around the world in the art of hand-crafted gelato according to tradition.
Coleridges creation Noce Pecan e Sciroppo dAcero Canadese (Pecan and Canadian Maple Syrup) was awarded first prize by the technical panel, as the best among the 30 master gelato makers. In addition, more than 200,000 visitors attended the festival and were given the opportunity to vote for the best gelato. The people voted for Coleridges gelato and he was awarded with the peoples choice award in the competition in Florence, Italy from May 23 to 27.
The Canadian Coleridge, considered a Maestro Gelatiere, considers himself a custodian of the old artisanal way of making handcrafted gelato preserving the technique from an old industrial world. Coleridge originally learned the art at the Carpigiani Gelato University in Anzola dellEmilia, Italy.
Bella Gelateria, located on the corner of Burrard and Cordova streets, offers 30 flavours of hand-made gelato daily. In-store flavours change according to the weather and the season ranging from white truffle with black caviar, raspberry and beet sorbetto, or the famous 85 per cent dark chocolate gelato. Bella Gelateria offers more than eight different types of chocolate gelato daily.
Bella Gelateria is the first in North America to use classic gelato machinery advocating slow process and small artisanal batches. Every in-store item is made from scratch using local and in-season ingredients. Coleridge can be seen daily preparing the days fresh flavours at his store at 1001 West Cordova Street.
