First Look: Piccolina Opens a Colourful New Gelateria on Bourke Street

Over the past decade, Piccolina Gelateria has established itself as one of Melbourne’s great gelato names. Queues regularly form for scoops in Hawthorn, Collingwood, St Kilda, Richmond, Chadstone and the CBD.

Now the gelateria has added a ninth store, which opened on Bourke Street on Monday. It joins the strip’s distinctively European cast of restaurants, including Côte Basque, Maison Batard, and, next door, Pellegrini’s.

“We’re so privileged to be a part of the fold,” says Piccolina founder Sandra Foti. “I’m hoping we add another layer to what’s already an incredible, historic precinct.”

The interiors are a departure from Piccolina’s other locations, brought to life by Foti’s long-time friend Nick Cox, creative director of Projects of Imagination, alongside March Studio. It’s “completely different from any other store we have,” she says. “It’s an all-out celebration of colour.”

Light bounces off mirrors and stainless steel in this space and every detail has been carefully considered. Checkerboard terrazzo tiles take cues from “an Italian gentleman’s pyjamas”, while fluted glass references early 20th-century Art Nouveau in Italy. Overhead, a gold ceiling pays homage to Bourke Street’s history as a bustling supply hub in the 1850s gold rush.

The centrepiece, though, is an eight-metre hand-painted menu board which Fools Glass founder Eloise McCullough assembled from 70 pieces of textured antique glass. “When it’s lit up, it’s like a jewel,” Foti says. 

“Our stores have a reputation for a classic line-up,” she says, and Bourke Street is no exception. The cabinet features 17 core flavours, including the much-loved pistachio – using house-made nut butter – and stracciatella, a creamy fior di latte studded with shards of house-made dark chocolate. Each week, three rotating specials join the line-up. At the time of opening, these include a boozy Bailey’s cheesecake, hedgehog, and chewy peanut caramel.

Foti’s approach to gelato is straightforward: make every flavour component from scratch using raw ingredients. It’s a philosophy passed down from her father who churned gelato during her childhood, and though the process is “labour-intensive”, it’s what sets Piccolina apart. Foti’s personal pick? “I love a strawberry sorbet with whipped cream on top,” she says, explaining that gelato is traditionally served with panna (Italian for cream) in Calabria, Italy. “It’s what summer in the south of Italy with family tastes like.”

Otherwise, you can have your scoop drizzled with warm “better than Nutella” hazelnut-cocoa spread, get it whipped into a frappe, or packed into a takeaway tub of up to 1.5 litres. The Bourke Street store also has a sizeable fridge dedicated to gelato cakes, with gleaming creations including bombe alaska, tiramisu, lamington and tartufo. “We’re joining this incredible lineage,” Foti says of Bourke Street’s history and Piccolina’s established neighbours. “That’s definitely something I don’t take for granted.”

Piccolina Bourke Street
68 Bourke Street, Melbourne
(03) 9968 2231

Hours:
Sun to Thu midday–10.30pm
Fri & Sat midday–11pm

piccolinagelateria.com.au
@piccolinagelateria