One of the Best Gifts! Adopting a Homeless Pet.

Happy Anniversary to Pino Gelato Cafe in Cranberry Twp, PA!

You may have noticed that we often use the term "family" at Pino Gelato. Well, family did play a key role for Ron and Kim Kachman, who now owns the Pino Gelato Cafe in Cranberry township, Pennsylvania. While on a family vacation on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, one of their family member discovered Pino Gelato and introduced our gelato and concept to Ron and Kim. Then, they visited our corporate retail store in The Village at Wexford, met with John Jacobs and Ramona Fantini, and the rest was history.

A few month later, Dominic Leong was in Cranberry Twp, training a dozen college and high schools students who would work along side with Ron and Kim to bring the genuine taste of Italy to this great area, near Pittsburgh, PA. Ron and Kim invited friends and family to experience Pino Gelato and discover their new location in the Oak Tree Place shopping center on the night before the Grand Opening. The fun began when more than 50 VIP guests strolled through the cafe and tasted Pino gelato and sorbetto for the first time.

Since each Pino Gelato license is individually owned, Ron and Kim envisioned this full menu European style cafe, where patrons are served not only authentic gelato and sorbetto, but also a wide assortment of pastries and bakery goods. Customers need a little time to choose among the selection of soups and sandwiches on their lunch break. One may stop by anytime for a cold refreshment or hot beverage, even though it is hard to decide between the various specialty coffee drinks, hot chocolate, and chai teas.

Ron and Kim just celebrated their 6-month anniversary and launched new Italian-style sandwiches. And that did not go unnoticed, as national website RestaurantNews.com featured Pino Gelato cafe last week!

(click here or on the below image to view the full article)

So, congratulations to Ron and Kim and thank you to all of our loyal and new customers! 
 

Congratulazioni!

Art, Bubbly and Cake!

Mira Scott, owner of Picture this Gallery and president of the Island school Council for the Arts here on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, invited us to participate in the first “Art, Bubbly & Cake” event.

Mira came to Pino Gelato in The Village at Wexford not long ago to tell us about the upcoming event concept: “Take 10 celebrity artists and pair them with 10 celebrity chefs and what can you come up with? A unique cake from the chefs inspired by a painting or sculpture from the artist. Throw in some bubble and you have a fabulous and fun evening.”

We were paired with artist Amiri Farris, who painted “Plumes of Great Egret” and ready for the challenge. Our talented team member Maira Rosso worked on the gelato cake based on a couple of drafts the artist, Amiri, had sent us. And voila!

Artist Amiri Farris and Pino gelato's Maira Rosso

  Featured in The Island Packet on 11/23/11 (http://www.islandpacket.com/2011/11/23/1872652/edible-art-local-chefs-artists.html)

So, the red carpet was rolled out and the party was a huge success, gathering artists, chefs and art amateurs around unique creations, both edible and non-edible, along with some bubbly and other refreshments.

Carrie Hirsh, board member of the Gullah Museum and food columnist for South Carolina Living Magazine (yes, she is the one who wrote about Pino gelato in August 201 (http://www.ecsc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=583&Itemid=253) told us that “only one of the artists had ever painted a cake, and most of the chefs had ever undertaken the creation of a cake based on original artwork”.

Do you need another reason to get onboard beside the bubbly & cake?!

A great cause: the proceeds of this event will fund the first culinary residency for the island School Council for the Arts; Sallie Ann Robinson will teach a series of classes on Gullah cuisine to 3^rd and 4^th grade students.

But enough said, let take a look at those succulent creations and beautiful piece of arts:

Artist Cassandra Gillens and Signe’s Heaven bakery & Café Signe Gardo

Artist Dana Rose and Food Network celebrity/One Hot mama’s Orchid Paulmeir

Yes, both the painting and the “cake” are made of 

actual barbecue wings,eggs and other Southern cooking staples!

Artist Mira Scott and...

... SC Living Magazine's Carrie Hirsh

 

Artist Emmett McConnell and Gullah Chef and author Sallie Ann Robinson

Artist April Hobus and Food columnist/Chef sally Kerr-Dineen

Jewelry designer Cara Rae Raish and Red Fish’s Melissa Ciockran

 

Artist Regina Mathieson and Charlie’s L’etoile Verte’ Charlie Golson

Paper artist/Book maker Mary Leto and Sheri’s Edible Delights’ Sheri Davis

  

And last but not least….

Aspiring pastry chef Adam Euny, 15 year-old guest!

Taste of the Season 2011

Ice Sculpture

The holiday season officially began with one of Hilton Head's most anticipated event... Taste of the Season.
For the 22nd edition, the Hilton Head Island - Bluffton Chamber of Commerce gathered thirty local restaurants and eateries including The Jazz Corner, Michael Anthony's Cucina Italiana, Alexander's Seafood Restaurant, Aqua Ocean Grill and Red Fish to name a few at the Hilton Head Marriott Resort & Spa to offer locals and visitors signatures dishes and desserts. The ball room was filled with aroma that tickled your taste puds at every step. Whether you prefer seafood or steak, Hilton Head's finest chefs had prepared it fabulously. When visiting the island on your next summer vacation, whether you are beach goers or golfers, you won't want to miss these great places to eat. Among our favorites were Ela's Water Grille's seared diver scallops with truffled beurre blanc with lemon, Berkeley Hall's mesquite grilled bison strip loin, cranberry demi served with dual white and orange sweet potato puree, and the butternut squash bisque, topped with crab nugget and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Lined up for Pino

 Fortunately, guests saved a little room for dessert and had a choice of brownies and cookies, chocolate fettuccini alla panna (cocoa crepes) and of course, Pino Gelato!
After winning the Hilton Head Island - Bluffton Chamber of Commerce "Small Business of the Year Award", we could not miss this culinary event and wanted to add our famous Pino Gelato Brand to the mix. Earlier in September, when we were invited to Gourmet Sensation with Wolfgang Puck (see the complete story on our blog), we offered our unique gelato and sorbetto classic Italian flavors. On Friday night, we added the new seasonal flavors to bring our own taste of the season here on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
The authentic Italian gelato flavors Spumone and Tiramisu were the hit of the night, along with Christmas favorite Candy Cane. Some preferred the pallet cleansing sorbettos: Mediterranean citrus and Mojito served as "icing on the cake" after such delicious food for many.

A taste of Italy

All the participants efforts to decorate each table with ornaments, Christmas trees, lights and classic children's books made the spirit of the Holidays come to life.

Daniel's had an elegant presentation

Our beautiful table

 

Pino Gelato donates

 The silent auction tables were full of gifts, including some from Santa Claus himself! Choosing between dining and entertaining such as  Crazy Crab and Old Oyster Factory gift certificates, indulgent escapes including weekend getaways to Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, Golf Club & Spa, The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, The Inn at Harbourtown, the Westin or the Hilton Oceanfront Resort and other golf and spa packages made it a lot of fun to bet and support our community!


Not only was the food amazing, but the drinks were a treat as well, and the fact that it was all served among great company, with live jazz music playing in the background, made this event all the more special!

The music men

Halloween Visitors to Pino Gelato

Which Witch? On Halloween, our favorite witch, Vanessa, swept in with a gaggle of beautiful princesses in tow. Vanessa must have cast a spell on them for they didn't seem in the least bit afraid of her fearsome witchery. Notice the long black nails...Vanessa is a witch to be respected. 

Alexa, known as Cinderella, graced us in a proper blue ball gown. Worn with the flair only a princess can display. (This shot is so sweet!)

Andrea joined in with a tulle in Pink. She could be pretending to be Sleeping Beauty but Sleeping Beauty didn't have the dazzling style that Andrea displayed. (with a mega bright smile!)

Young Sophia arrived without a single dwarf but she is obviously confident without her mini-entourage. (precious. simply a precious moment.)

And of course, much too soon, the troublesome witch swept the glamorous princesses away where they must have proceeded to break hearts and subdue lovelorn ghosts who became dazzled with their twinkling charm.

Trick or Treat, Italian style....

Halloween means all kinds of sweets and trust us, we know what a sweet tooth is! Here is the good news: there is now a fun and spooky healthier alternative...

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

Our staff has been debating over which Halloween gelato cupcakes are the scariest! We (almost) agreed on the ones topped with the witch hats.


Let us know what you like best and we'll have it ready for you bloody fast! There is nothing boring about a gelato cake either. Whether you keep things bright with a pumpkin face or venture over the dark side with skeletons walking around a graveyard, you'll enjoy biting into it as much as surprising your crowd!

And don't forget your costume!

Let's stir things up for Halloween!

Have you thought about what you'll be serving at your Halloween party? Or about something fun to do with your family and friends?

We have! And indeed it was fun mixing the Pino Gelato
GraveYard Punch with Drifting Mist:

Recipe

Ingredients:

2 two-liter bottles of lemon-lime soda


1 cup chocolate syrup


1 quart of chocolate Pino Gelato

Dry Ice

Most grocery stores will have dry ice. It’s popular at Halloween so you may want to try and reserve some. Pick it up just before your event and keep it in a cooler.

Be very careful when handling dry ice!

Always wear heavy-duty gloves, as dry ice is much colder than regular ice and freezes your skin in seconds. Unless you can obtain “food grade” dry ice, it is not safe to ingest or put directly into beverages.  

Always keep it safely away from children and in an area that is well ventilated. Inhaling large amounts can make you feel ill. 

Directions:

Put ½ cup chocolate syrup in bottom of a punch bowl.

Add large scoops of Gelato over the syrup then pour rest of syrup over the top of the ice cream. Slowly pour chilled lemon-lime soda over the gelato.

With a long spoon, stir the syrup up from the bottom.

Add more lemon-lime soda until bubbles form on top. 

Presentation:

To give your punch that graveyard effect, you’ll need two punch bowls: one larger than the other.  Mix the Halloween punch recipe in the smaller bowl.

Add a few dry ice chunks to the larger container and place the bowl filled with punch on top of the ice in larger bowl.  

Just before serving your ghoulish guests, pour a little hot water on the dry ice until it starts misting the desired amount.  For the maximum amount of spooky mist, make sure your punch is at room temperature.  

You do not need to add regular ice to your punch either. The dry ice will make it cold.

 Our kitchen turned into a lab as we experimented with gelato, soda, and dry ice for the best Halloween look!

 

Hope you have as much fun as we did!

Happy Halloween!

The countdown to Halloween has begun!

Only 17 days left before Halloween!

Have you chosen your costume yet? Feel free to let us know what you were in the past and what you are planning for this year: either comment on this post or on our Facebook page and you'll see our new spooky look!

We have been thinking about Halloween for a little while and mostly about all the fun that comes with it!

 (click on the picture to enlarge)

 We'll share some insider tricks in the next series of blogs to show you how you can turn gelato and sorbetto into cakes, cupcakes and drinks that will give you and your guests chills!

Here is a sneak peak...

Pets for Adoption at Pino Gelato

 

Come by Pino Gelato this coming Saturday from 12pm to 2pm to meet our four-legged friends from the Hilton Head Humane Association.

Volunteers will pick up dogs and cats from the shelter to take them on a little field trip to Pino Gelato in the Village at Wexford, hoping to meet new adopters and find a forever home!

Not quite ready for a(nother) pet yet?

Consider volunteering your time and love to take a dog or cat to the event and relax, while enjoying free coffee, iced coffee drinks or fruit spritzers!

Contact us or Laura Tipton, adoption facilitator at the Hilton Head Humane Association (843 681 8680) , for more information.

 

Yes, we are taking turns! Last Saturday we went to the Humane Association shelter for the Children’s books drive held by Friends of the Library of Hilton Head. All books were collected by the Marines for the Toys for Tots program.

Italian Heritage Festival

Ciao! (Hello!)

Come stai?(How are you?)

Last Saturday, the Italian American Club of Hilton Head orchestrated their 2nd Italian Heritage Festival at Shelter Cove Community Park. 

All the ingredients for a great events were there: the weather was perfect (a bit warm according to some, but it is never too warm if you ask us!), the food was amazing and the turn out even better!

More than 2,000 people joined us to savor Italian food offered by many local restaurants and shops. name your favorite food, I bet it was there:  Italian sausage, pasta and meatballs, osso bucco, polenta, and of course pizza! If you were smart, you saved room for dessert, not only for gelato but also cannolis and the famous Zeppoli's prepared from scratch by the Club's volunteers.

Between the music, the sun, the delicious smell of all the different dishes, the loud Italian families and the laughters, we sure felt a little closer to Italy that day...