First Look: Gaia Gelato’s Sweetening Up Randwick With Outstanding Pastel-Hued Scoops

What happens when two friends want to get out of the corporate world and into food? In this tale, it’s a two-week intensive in gelato-making, a whole lot of passion, and Randwick’s newest gelato shop.

Gaia Gelato has been open for less than a fortnight, and already the locals are showing their favour. The venture had an unorthodox inception. Emanuele Giannetti moved from Tuscany to Australia 14 years ago, and for 13 of those years he worked as a software developer. That’s how he met Franco Alvarez.

“We’ve always been good friends and we’ve always stayed in touch,” Alvarez tells Broadsheet. “Manny has always had a good passion for Italian food, he always made pizza for us.”

Not just pizza – Giannetti made risotto, pasta, tiramisu and the like. But it was a hobby.

The duo often discussed moving away from the corporate world, exploring different ventures in the software world, but nothing stuck. Then, in 2022, Giannetti travelled to Tuscany, visiting home and devoting a fortnight to learning the art of gelato-making – and the idea of a food venue began churning.

When Giannetti got home, he headed to Alvarez’s place “and we made gelato”, says Alvarez. “I said, ‘You have to make pistachio because that’s my favourite.’” A tub of the pastel-hued delight was indeed made – “I was like, ‘Wow, it’s pretty damn good.’”

After returning to Italy for a three-day internship with his teacher-turned-mentor in 2023, Giannetti had a business plan: all-natural artisan gelato made from scratch not far from the beach in Sydney. Franco was sold – and wanted to be more than a silent partner. A few more owners came on board – two in Italy – and the team of five got started at speed.

“When I came back, it was August,” Giannetti says. “On November 1, I got the keys [to the shop], and then I only had a month and a half [till Gaia Gelato opened].”

The gelato shop gets its name from the Greek goddess of Earth and takes inspiration accordingly. The all-natural artisan scoops are made on-site daily, from scratch, by Giannetti. No ingredient arrives prepared, and the whirring, fragrant kitchen only adds to the ambience of the shop’s Tuscan-inspired fit-out. The Gaia Gelato team doesn’t add colours, so the gelato is naturally more muted – the focus is exclusively on quality and taste.

The flavours range from Italian classics – like lemon, vanilla or amarena, where the black cherries come direct from Italy – and whatever is in season (there’s currently a summery mango and passionfruit), to customer requests.

“I want to keep the traditional favourites, but still do something a bit more alternative,” says Giannetti. One of the flavours that currently graces what will be a rotating menu is the aromatic peach and basil, which is already a proven hit.

“We had one guy just this morning who was like, ‘Best ice-cream in Sydney’,” says Alvarez. “Just seeing the smiles on people’s faces is massive for us. We’ve got a very passionate guy in the kitchen doing his thing – hopefully that translates to the gelato.”

Gaia Gelato
50 Perouse Road, Randwick
0478 308 391

Hours:
Tue to Sun midday–10pm

@gaiagelato