Photo courtesy of Botolino.
A staple in the Dallas frozen dessert scene, Botolino Gelato Artigianale is joining the Bishop Arts neighborhood Monday with the opening of their third storefront.
Tiramisu and milk chocolate with homemade cone. Photo courtesy of Botolino.
Located at 269 N Bishop Ave., the store makes artisanal gelatos, large cakes, mini cakes, sundaes, affogatos and chocolates from scratch. The gelato shop also has locations at Preston Royal and Greenville Avenue.
“This is what I was born to do. I was trained by gelato masters in Italy, but my connection to the world of food goes back much further and started with my grandmother,” owner Carlo “Botolo” Gattini said. “My grandmother served gelato in her own shop in Italy … by the time she retired, she had written a library of cookbooks and had become one of Italy’s most beloved recipe book writers. She was the first person to teach me how to cook, and her legacy has always influenced me.”
The Bishop Arts store will be open Sunday through Thursday from 12-10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 12-11 p.m.
Gattini moved from Tuscany to Dallas at 15, and opened his first gelato shop in 2017. His nickname, which also serves as the shop namesake, loosely translates to feisty dog in Italian.
Feisty may just be the apt word to describe Botolino’s introduction to Bishop Arts. The gelato shop’s storefront was previously inhabited by Azucar Ice Cream, whose owners claimed were pushed out of the space after a “slimy” deal was made regarding the store’s lease.
Once Azucar’s closing was made public, store manager Andy de la Fuente entered a one-sided feud with Gattini. For several weeks, Gattini’s photo was posted on the door of the ice cream shop with “BOO BOTOLINO,” written below his face. Red devil horns and eyes were drawn onto the image which also said “NO ENTRY.”
Despite the rocky neighborhood welcome, Botolino has been eyeing a Bishop Arts expansion “for years,” according the the Dallas Morning News, and Gattini said he came to a lease agreement with the building manager shortly after being informed the space was available.
