Tough decisions...

When customers step in a Pino Gelato, they are amazed by the presentation and flavor varieties we offer. As they sample our flavors, it sometimes seems people have a harder time choosing a flavor than naming their first-born child!

Now, while we love our customers, we think it is time to make it even harder on you. That’s right, it’s time to add new flavors to our list!

But choosing flavors is not just hard on our customers! The Pino Gelato team needs your help choosing  new flavors that we can include in our stores. Do you enjoy traditional gelato flavors, like chocolate, hazelnut and pistachio…or are your favorites some of the non-traditional, like Reese’s and Cream or Ocean Caramel? 

Here’s where you come in… We have heard suggestions ranging from lilac to a chocolate-chocolate chip gelato. No idea is too ordinary or too wild (in fact, we can’t wait to hear the wild)! 

Straciatella (Chocolate Chip) is a traditional Italian flavor; while Peanut Butter hits the spot for others!

Please let us know what flavors you would like to see, whether you have seen it before, or you are the creator. In fact, we will name the best flavor suggestion after the person who suggests it for its first 2 months in our corporate store on Hilton Head Island, SC.

 We appreciate your input, and can’t wait to hear your ideas!

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

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...

 

AOL Travel Editors’ Picks for Best Hilton Head Island Restaurants

We were pleasantly surprised to learn that Pino Gelato was listed in the Best Hilton Head Island Restaurants by AOL Travel. We were interviewed and photographed last year by a representative from AOL who visited the shop and spoke to owner, Ramona Fantini. He told us that we came highly recommended, hence the reason for the visit.

Pino Gelato appears on the AOL link entitled “Hilton Head Itineraries”  . The list encompasses many other popular eateries, local and tourist favorites, and we are very proud to be recognized. The article is intended to be a guide for a potential traveler to the island, opening with a day by day list for the reader to follow, as they are enticed to each suggested destination. Pino Gelato is listed on Day 5, with the suggestion to have a wonderful blueberry pomegranate sorbetto cone. Great choice AND the sorbetto is 100 % fat free!  The reader can click further into each destination to get more information and some photos; the photo of our shop is warm and inviting. AOL mentions our other products, crepes and pizza in a cone, and of course our handmade and decorated gelato cakes. The piece de resistance is the link to our website and our place among the Best Hilton Head Island Restaurants!