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The Gelato Is Spinning Thick This Summer in San Francisco

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The Gelato Is Spinning Thick This Summer in San Francisco


Perhaps it’s all the Mediterranean dining around town but the last few summers have been filled with tinned fish and Aperol spritzes. So, naturally, San Franciscans are primed for dessert — do you want to get gelato? There are several fresh options for gelato around town right now, with a few new shops, windows, and even jaunty custom carts rolling in from Italy.

But what exactly is the difference between ice cream and gelato? A quick refresher: Technically, ice cream has more fat and more air, explains Roy Shvartzapel of From Roy. Ice cream is often made with cream and eggs, and it spins fast to incorporate air; Shvartzapel estimates ice cream at more than 50 percent overrun or added air, while his gelato maxes out at 20 to 25 percent. Gelato relies more on milk, so it’s lighter in fat — between 4 and 9 percent, many sources agree — and it spins slowly so it’s dense in texture and feels more intense in flavor. Pick up a pint at the market and it’s definitely more solid. Take a spoonful and, “You get all of the flavor on your tongue,” says Jennifer Felton, pastry chef at Cotogna. “You’re not working through the air. You don’t have a lot of fat. That flavor melts on your tongue immediately.”

No offense to anyone who loves soft serve, but it’s a treat to see talented pastry chefs crafting gelato programs from scratch, many inspired by their travels and memories of Milan, Bologna, and Sicily. So grab a mini spoon and let’s dig into it — the gelato is thick this summer in San Francisco.

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Che Fico Mercato

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Che Fico Mercato in Menlo Park threw open a Gelateria window at the beginning of the summer, which has already been a hit with the warm weather on the Peninsula. They’re also rolling out a new custom cart, so the gelato can hit the road and roam around the Bay Area, likely starting with a few farmers markets. It’s a super cute TeknéItalia model that just arrived from Italy, featuring snappy red paint with a pattern of purple figs and a scalloped awning. “The more people enjoying gelato, the better,” says co-owner Matt Brewer. “And what better way to bring gelato to the people?” They tapped a star pastry chef to develop their recipes — Shvartzapel, of panettone fame, has been consulting on the menu.

Shvartzapel says it was refreshing to take a break from crafting one of the most notoriously difficult breads in the world, and instead develop a few fresh gelato recipes for summer. He’s spent the most time in and around Milan, visiting his panettone mentor nearby in Brescia. “I definitely have gelato once a day when I’m there,” Shvartzapel says. He considers himself kind of a classicist when it comes to intense flavors. The team imports pistachio, hazelnut, and almonds from Italy, and folds in the same local and seasonal produce on display in the market. Shvartzapel still dreams about Silicilan pistachio gelato, which they’re now pairing with tart cherries. The cookies and cream flavor folds hazelnut brutti ma buoni cookies into a hazelnut base. And there’s a hazelnut brownie situation with salted caramel.

Three metal dishes of gelato with waffle cookies.

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Cotogna pastry chef Jennifer Felton spent a week at the Carpigiani Gelato University near Bologna in 2019 to learn the tricks of the trade
Sarah Huber

Cotogna, too, embracing frozen dessert by bringing back its gelato cart on summer Fridays in anticipation of its upcoming gelato shop, Gelateria di Cotogna, opening in early 2025 just a block away at 596 Pacific Avenue. Back in March, Cotogna’s fan-favorite gelato went viral thanks to a visit from Kim Kardashian, who enjoyed the vanilla and honeycomb. Originally, a gelato cart rolled around the dining room with a huge mound of fresh vanilla to be scooped tableside. During the pandemic they switched to selling pints out the door, and eventually built four custom wooden carts for private events. This summer, they’re parking one in front of the restaurant on Fridays to serve scoops and cones, along with selling veggies from their farm and wines from the cellar. They’ll soon upgrade to a TeknéItalia, which should arrive in mid-August.

Longtime pastry chef Felton has geeked out for years developing these recipes. “I love the science and possibilities of gelato,” Felton says. “You have one single product, but endless flavors and options.” In 2019, when she was trying to take a vacation, chef Michael Tusk convinced her to spend a week at the Carpigiani Gelato University near Bologna. She says gelato — such as the crema di gelato that includes egg yolk — runs a touch richer in that region. Felton relies on local and organic dairy, strawberries from Cotogna’s own farm, and pistachios from Sicily. She refuses to use any fruit purees or nut pastes, doing all of her own grinding. Don’t underestimate the original vanilla flecked with quality vanilla bean: “It’s not cheap to make,” she says. Everyone asks for the honeycomb, which folds in a crush of honeycomb candy, coated in a little coconut oil to keep it crunchy (although Felton’s personal favorite is espresso).

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A red gelato spins in an ice cream churn.

Chef and owner Ilary Biondo uses organic fruit in her gelato.
Hila Gelato
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A cannoli is held out by Biondo with two types of gelato.

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Biondo will also cram a cannoli full of gelato at Hila.
Hila Gelato

Hila Gelato is a new spot on Valencia Street owned by an actual Sicilian. Chef and owner Ilary Biondo took over this storefront from Xanath Ice Cream in 2023, and Hila Gelato just celebrated its one-year anniversary. Biondo owned a gelato shop in Palermo for 10 years, before moving to San Francisco last year. “You can find some gelato here in San Francisco,” says Biondo, as translated by her wife Cecilia Casarini. “But coming from my experience making artisanal gelato in Italy, I couldn’t find anything like that.” She’s been shocked to realize how many ice cream shops in the Bay Area rely on premade bases, syrups, and mix-ins. She just got back from visiting her mother in the countryside, where they like to make olive oil on the family farm. She grew up chasing after the gelato truck, which in Sicily apparently meant a Vespacar mini truck trundling around on three wheels.

Biondo’s style is emphatically fresh and light, and she would even say healthy, although that’s a whole other conversation between you and your dietitian. She makes many of her bases with only three ingredients — organic milk, local fruit, and scant sugar. Some of the bases aren’t even cooked, she simply purees and lets the flavors bloom. When people stroll into the shop, they’re greeted by a mechanical chorus: she had a custom gelato case made in Texas, which continuously spins small batches of each flavor while on display. The fans especially love the strawberry, pistachio, olive oil, gianduia (chocolate and hazelnut), and croccante amarena (cherry, chocolate chip, and biscuit crumbles). Oh, and you can get any flavor loaded into a cannoli.





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SF 19th Avenue repavement project complete, all lanes now open: Caltrans

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SF 19th Avenue repavement project complete, all lanes now open: Caltrans


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — All lanes on San Francisco’s 19th Avenue have fully reopened ahead of schedule following the completion of a final, multi-round road repair project.

Northbound lanes reopened at 2:30 a.m. and southbound lanes at 6 a.m. on Monday, concluding work between Sloat Boulevard and Holloway Avenue.

The upgrades, which improved traffic flow after severe, temporary congestion, are expected to last for 20 years.

Caltrans repaves northbound 19th Ave. in San Francisco; locals, business owners brace for delays

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Caltrans’s repavement project of 19th Avenue included repairing potholes and repairing unsound pavement. It was part of a third and final round of scheduled roadwork on the busy corridor.

This weekend’s closure affected 19th Avenue between Sloat Boulevard and Holloway Avenue, and crews worked on the northbound lanes during the day and then the southbound lanes at night.

One lane stayed open for public transit, emergency responders and local traffic.

Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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Person stabbed at SF Carnaval festival, in critical condition

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Person stabbed at SF Carnaval festival, in critical condition


SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A person was stabbed at the annual Carnaval festival Sunday afternoon in San Francisco’s Mission District, according to the San Francisco Police Department. The stabbing happened around 3:15 p.m. in the area of 19th and Mission streets, which is part of the festival’s parade route.

Police arrived at the scene and located a victim suffering from an apparent stabbing, SFPD said. The victim was then taken to the hospital where they are suffering life-threatening injuries.

A suspect was later arrested near the area of 24th and Mission. Police said the suspect’s identity and charges are currently pending.

The parade took place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The stabbing took place roughly an hour after the parade’s scheduled conclusion.

The Carnaval festival is a free event that aims to “celebrate the beauty of Latin American, Caribbean and global traditions through the streets of San Francisco,” event organizers wrote.

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SFPD said that anyone with information about the stabbing is asked to contact the department at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD.”

No other details were immediately available.





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People We Meet: For Arieann Harrison, eco-activism is in her DNA

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People We Meet: For Arieann Harrison, eco-activism is in her DNA


Attend any neighborhood meeting in Bayview-Hunters Point, whether it’s put on by tenants groups, the neighborhood’s air protection program or the Hunters Point Shipyard’s citizens advisory committee, and you are bound to come face to face with Arieann Harrison. 

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Harrison, the CEO of the Marie Harrison Foundation, an environmental justice nonprofit named after her mother, is a formidable opponent to anyone with a key interest in projects that could pose a health risk to her neighbors. 

That’s because Harrison has skin in the game. 

Harrison lost her mother in 2019 after a long battle with lung disease. She had never been a smoker. Although it has not been proven, Arieann Harrison blames the Hunters Point Shipyard, a toxic Superfund site where her mother worked in her youth. 

Later, as an adult, Marie Harrison tirelessly advocated throughout the 1990s for a transparent cleanup of the site, and fought on behalf of environmental concerns throughout the neighborhood.

Her efforts eventually helped lead to the closure of the Hunters Point Power Plant, which prior to 2006 spewed pollution over the neighborhood. 

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“I guess you could say it’s in my DNA,” said Harrison, when asked why she decided to turn to activism herself. 

But it wasn’t an automatic calling. “I’ll be the first person to tell you,” Harrison said, sitting in Bayview’s Southeast Community Center, “I didn’t want to be nothing like my mother and father.” 

As a teenager, Harrison had a taste for rebellion. At night, she would climb out of her bedroom window and change her clothes in the dark to follow the Bayview-Hunters Point-born, all-Black heavy metal band Stone Vengeance to their next gig.

“I was an angry kid,” said Harrison, who now laughs about it. “When you’re young and carefree, you don’t give a shit about anything.” 

Harrison’s first love was for music. While following the band, she played her own music, writing lyrics and playing the keyboard in now-closed holes-in-the-wall across San Francisco and Oakland. 

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“It was a wild time,” Harrison said, recalling one memory in which she dared a member of Stone Vengeance to dive headfirst — in his leather pants — into a lake in Golden Gate Park.

“It got scary fast. It was so dark, we could just hear splashing,” said Harrison. “But it was so fun, we went back the next weekend.” 

But when Harrison went to her first social-justice meeting at City College, it fit like a glove.

“I grew up in those rooms,” said Harrison, whose father was also an activist and a member of the Black Panther Party. “And I grew up with the notion that you had to do something.” 

Harrison worked as a case manager in Bayview for decades, never moving from the Hunters Point waterfront, and often taking care of her younger sisters and brothers while her mother worked to gather evidence that the U.S. Navy had botched its cleanup of the shipyard. 

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When her mother died in 2019, Harrison was left with a very large shadow. Neighbors who knew her mother will often stop her in the street, including during Mission Local’s interview, exclaiming how they knew her mother.

“Hey, I know you!” called out one Bayview resident. “I knew her when she was just a little girl,” he said. “I knew her mother very well.” 

But her fear, she said, is that one day her mother will be forgotten.

“I don’t want us to just be memorialized in pictures and street names,” she said, sitting in the community center’s cafe, in which murals of community activists are plastered over the walls. “I want our children to see the fruits of all that she’s done.” 

The year after her mother died, Harrison hosted an Earth Day event. “Kids came from everywhere,” said Harrison. “There were so many kids, they covered it from the air to the ground.” 

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Harrison started the Marie Harrison Foundation in 2023, working with children in Bayview and across San Francisco to teach science and environmental justice.

“I wanted to see it through,” said Harrison. “I wanted to make sure that what she started did not end without a greater outcome.” 

The foundation has also worked to pressure industries to reduce truck traffic and air pollution in the neighborhood and has worked to hold the U.S. Navy accountable at the shipyard. She’s also started a scholarship in her mother’s name. 

When she watched her kids march into City Hall and towards the mayor’s office on Earth Day in 2019, Harrison stood back, in awe.

“I almost broke inside,” said Harrison. “Someting in me broke. I just thought, this is why. It’s like my mom’s spirit was with me, and I haven’t stopped since. And I won’t stop until we get the desired outcomes that we need.” 

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