At Kariton Sorbetes’ Chinatown location, Melburnians queue for bright scoops of Buko Pandan, a pandan-and-coconut gelato popping with gems of green jelly, and cones topped with Keso, a sweet cheddar-and-vanilla flavour balanced with salt and roasted cashews. There’s Ube Halaya and Pastillas des Leche, and a fortnightly shifting selection of specials. Now, it’s Sydney’s turn: Kariton is readying to open in Burwood this autumn.

The artisanal Filipino ice-cream house is co-owned by a pair of fine-dining chefs: John Rivera (ex-Lume, Sunda) and Minh Duong (ex-Maha). Starting as a home-delivery service in 2020, it garnered a dedicated fan base, and grew quickly to keep up with demand – there are currently three Melbourne stores, and plans for more.

“You know, we originally thought [Kariton] would be a fun project that lasted a few weeks,” Rivera tells Broadsheet. “We thought we’d do 50 to 100 tubs a week. Then, when we opened it up in the first week for people to order, we were slammed with 750 tubs. We realised then and there we’d found this niche in the market: Southeast Asian flavours. And now, we’re finally making the trip over to Sydney.”

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Well, the scoops did make it this far north, just once. “[When we launched], Will [Mahusay, of Sydney Cebu Lechon] got us to drive up to Sydney and we did a pop-up in his old spot in Newtown. We loaded up 600 tubs and sold it over the weekend, then drove back down to Melbourne. So Sydney’s been a long time coming.”

While Kariton started as a celebration of the Philippines – an inspiration still reflected in the core flavours – countries and cultures from the wider region have begun to get a look in. “Now, all of our specials are inspired by Asian flavours, ingredients, snacks, desserts.” (Think matcha gelato with adzuki bean paste, Yakult-flavoured scoops or the rose-coloured Bandung number, based on a sweet Indonesian drink.) With the playful options consistently selling out 48 hours after they’re churned, it’s some of the freshest – and, in our opinion, most fun – gelato available.

Joining the ice-cream is the technicolour “slushie-dessert” halo-halo and the decadent (and vegan) Taho, a sundae-like cup filled with silken-tofu soft-serve, soy-milk panna cotta and tapioca pearls, all swimming in a warmed oolong-tea syrup.

Sydney’s store will sidle right up to Chinatown in Burwood, where the lights are bright and throngs of people enjoy our city well into the night. “We just saw how alive it was. People flock there,” Rivera says. “And it sits in the middle – it’s 20 minutes from the city and 20 to 30 minutes from the outer west. We like to know that even if you have a late dinner, you’ll be able to get a cheeky gelato at 10.30pm.”

Kariton Sorbetes is scheduled to open at 173 Burwood Road, Burwood, in March 2024.

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