Rite of Passage

It has been one month since the birth of our daughter girl and it has passed by like a sleepless blur. A lot of contemplation & reflection has filled this past month, all allowed by the amount of time spent at home insulated from the "outside" world, living inside our self-generated bubble, doing little else but taking care of our lil' girl. Having Pema at home was the most beautiful and the most intense experience of our lives, a true right of passage. People had always told me how life totally changes once you have a child, and I knew they were right, but really had no idea what to expect. Since Pema was born I now view this world and my place in it from a different position. It is as if the DNA program, responsible for the reproduction of the species has been activated and now I have this little helpless human living with me who needs to be loved unconditionally, cared for, fed, protected, nurtured, etc... It has changed absolutely everything!
Today, at the Dupont market, I was speaking with a chap about what we learned through this whole birth experience. We learned that the Birth Industry has done to birthing what the Food Industry has done to eating. The interest lies in profits and not in the best interest of the mom, baby and dad. It is really sad how this industry has changed the perception of the people in the last 100 years. In 1900, over 95% of the births were at home, by 1955, less than 2% of births were at home. Don't get me wrong, hospitals and modern medicine have their place and thank god for them, but I think they end up doing more harm than good in the whole birth process. I know this is a subject that people tend to completely freak out about, so I have no judgement, I just offer my own experience, which is very little. I just think that if a pregnancy and birth have no major complications, then it is probably better to let it unfold as it needs to, on its own, with very little or no intervention. This obviously has much more to do with the woman than the man, and I have no problem admitting that Violeta is way braver & stronger than me.
So, anyways, life is grand, altered, full, sleepless, joyful, simply beyond words, ineffable, i guess it would be. What does all this have to do with gelato, well, i guess just to say that we like to do EVERYTHING the natural way, whether it is spinning gelato or spinning babies, it just seems to come out better, and that's just the way we are.

Pema Isabella

Of all the flavors we have created in our 5 + years at Dolcezza, nothing comes close to the latest creation. Our little girl, Pema Isabella Duncan, was born Saturday, September 5th, at home with the help of 2 amazing midwives, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, myself and of course, the star of the show, my brave beautiful wife, Violeta. To try and say something about this experience robs it of any meaning; primitive, mammalian, animal, evolution, fucking mind blowing, gut wrenching, hallelujah, goddamn, to say the least. Life will never be the same, and it shouldn't. So, here is to our new arrival. She is beautiful, like a rainbow...

Shabang

What a rainy freak'n day at the market. We were actually glad when the rain started, because it finally broke through the dense humidity that was drenching the market scene. The few & true still showed up for their pint-size fix, but all-in-all it was a quiet market. These slow rainy days are great because it allows the vendors to hang out and shoot the shit with the breeze. I never grow tired of listening to ole Bev Eggleston ramble, rant & rave. I told him today that I think he is possessed by swine & is on a cult mission preaching the gospel of pork. I, for sure, am a believer. Then Mark Toigo walks up and all the talk turns to a food revolution & how we could play an instigative & active role in the whole shabang. If we could realize just half of the crazy ideas we talk about, we could have a very big impact on the local food scene. We will see where all this ramble leads to, if anywhere.
This weekend was also Violeta's baby shower. It was so incredibly nice & makes us realize how beautiful our group of friends and family are. It all started out innocent enough, but, eventually it just turned into one delirious debacle, just like most social events do, or at least you certainly hope for them to.

Blur & Babies

Jeez-Louise, July is almost over. Just like that. The fact that I haven't even looked at this blog since mid June will attest to one thing, this summer has been totally insane! Running 2 shops, 5 farmers' markets & delivering 6 days a week to about 60 local restaurants and hotels. It has been a bright and intense summer, thus far. So, since there is still one more month left to go, I will just do a stream-of-consciousness-data-dump to sum up the events of this past month.

strawberries, rhubarbs, tarragon, mint, basil, hotel pools, gastrofreaks in jamaica, farmers' markets, sonic youth, depeche mode, honduras, red raspberries, black raspberries, purple raspberries, birthing class, baby shopping, mentally-physically-spiritually preparing for baby girl, pema, rainbows, rainy spring, sleeping, not sleeping, stressing, chilling, thick espresso, perfect texture, best chocolate gelato in DC, homemade chicken stock, suckling pig, komi, apricots, white peaches, yellow peaches & loads of southern comfort, tia maria & bourbon. oh yeah, the toigo cook-out, which we missed, fuck! see you in august.

Washington Post article

A nice article today in the Washington Post Food Section about Pitango gelato, with a couple of paragraphs about us over here at Dolcezza. It is just another confirmation to what is happening, and what has been happening to local artisanal gelato and ice cream in this country, the movement is truly catching on, just as with chocolate, coffee, cheese, charcuterie, pickles, etc. I just like the fact that I was quoted as saying "that most of the stuff that we get is just crap." It is time to hold your food producers responsible and demand real food! So, read, enjoy and come see us in our 2 shops or at our farmers' markets and let us know what you think. See ya around.

WaPo article

NYC

Every time we go to New York it seems I write a post about that city. No matter how many times we go and no matter how frequently we return, New York always surprises and excites me, I see New York as an independently functioning, alive, evolving organism, moving & groping with it's own momentum, restaurants opening, restaurants closing, barrios happening, people never sleeping, trash collecting, water flowing, traffic jamming, all pulsing along to her own song, a very strong and unique song, that is for sure.
This time we were in NYC for a wedding of dear friends and it was something out of a movie. The wedding was held at Ten Ton Studios in the old Brooklyn Naval Yards. Rob, who owns and runs the studio, is a National Geographic photographer and a good friend of the groom. The place was unbelievable. inspirational. mind-blowing. I imagined how it might be for an artist, living amongst other artists, to live in this minimalistic and industrial world, creating art, experimenting, pushing yourself to the creative limits, and then going farther. I mean you couldn't help but extrude art and expression. Surround yourself with creative and inspiring types & settings and it's inevitable to push you deep into many creative crevices, nooks and crannys. These are the fantasy worlds that I try and make come true. It's what it's all about isn't it, making your dreams into reality, make believe.
So, the ceremony was absolutely beautiful, the bride and groom very happy, the crowd plenty a drunk and Violeta and I danced more than we had in a long, long time. Thank you New York. Thank you Natalia. Thank you Aram. Thank you friends.

Toigo Orchards

This past Monday we drove up to Shippensburg, Pa to visit our friends at Toigo Orchards. The farm is nestled in the Cumberland Valley with rows and rows of apple, pear, apricot, peach and plum trees stretching across the land and rolling up to the nearby hills. Mark Toigo and Vaclav are the ones who run and oversee the operations, and we use pretty much everything they grow in the production of our gelato. Beginning with their strawberries, then on with the cucumbers, sour cherries, apricots, plums, yellow peaches, white peaches, red watermelons, yellow watermelons, athena cantaloupes, yellow corn, heirloom tomatoes, chestnuts, all types of pears and apples, ciders and sweetening it all up with their raw honey. That's pretty much everything that comes off that farm and right smack into our gelato. It's so nice to know the folks and the land where our ingredients come from. We would not do it any other way.

Bumblebees in Spring

Folks, the fact that the frequency of blogging has declined is a direct result of the madness that ensues for every gelato crafter around this time of year. So, with few words i lay down our farmers' market menu, where you can find us now in 5 farmers' markets. We are as busy as bumblebees in spring and loving every second of it. Tis the season.

SORBETTO
1. Sicilian Blood Orange
2. Avocado Honey Orange
3. Strawberry PERNOD
4. Mojito
5. Champagne Mango
6. Pineapple Honey Lime
GELATO
7. Valrhona Chocolate Amargo
8. Pistacchio di Bronte
9. Thai Coconut Milk
10. Meyer Lemon Mascarpone
11. Lemon Ricotta Cardamom
12. Mexican Coffee

like ants to sugar

After clicking on the link below, play the little video to see us in action at Dupont Farmers' Market and to admire the skills of the famed accordionist, Jason Orfannon.

Dolcezza at Dupont Farmers' Market

Farmers' Market Menu

So, I get up at 5:00am because i can't stop repeating this week's farmers' market menu like a mantra so i wouldn't forget. After lying there for 15 minutes, i decide to get up and write it down, so it would be guaranteed that i wouldn't forget. So, i come to this public stage, not the private confines of MS Word to scribe my menu for this coming weeks farmers' markets, both Penn Quarter and Dupont Circle. Here it goes...ahem...

1. Sicilian Blood Orange
2. Meyer Lemon Vodka
3. Pineapple Honey Lime
4. Mango Habanero Lime
5. Avocado Honey Orange
6. Caipirinha
7. Valrhona Chocolate Amargo
8. Pistacchio di Bronte
9. Nocciola del Piemonte
10. Espresso Toscano
11. Ginger Cardamom Pistacchio
12. Thai Coconut Milk

So, there, it is written, transduced into word. & now, as i sit here knowing that i will carry a certain exhaustion this day, at least, i also carry the satisfaction of getting this out, no more menu ricocheting in my mind. On Wednesday, this menu will be executed with the utmost care and the fullest obsession. Hope to see you at one of the two markets. Good day.

The United Plates of America

We got a little shoutout in bon appétit magazine this month for our shop in Bethesda. Check it out.

Spring is Back

Well, according to the primitive folk, whom lived in much closer contact with this planet than us moderns do, it is officially spring, and it definitely felt & smelt of it today. Dupont Farmers' market was crawling with hungry people, and our tent was a Crawling-King-Snake of 'em. We pulled out some new ones, like SEVILLE ORANGE CORIANDER SEED & WHISKY. A smooth tart bitter brew, with a light scent of lemon riding through it compliments of the freshly ground coriander infused throughout. If you forgot how fresh the breeze can run and how warm the sun can feel, get your ass out of bed early one Sunday morning and head to the Dupont Circle farmers' market, the place is rife with folks, full of good tastes and Whole Foods bags. Today, for the first time at the market, we sold out of every single flavor we bought, all 200 half-pints of em, our tent buzzed like ants to sugar and it was a trip. Between my mother-in-law, Isabel selling in her heavy accented injun english and Violeta bagging up one order after another, it was a grand time, 4 hours going by like 4 minutes streaking nude down the street. Lots more to come. We are just getting started. yo!

Home in DC

Well, we have arrived back to our stateside home of Washington DC. Ever since returning on Sunday morning, I have been drifting through those deju-vu states of feeling like I am still down in Buenos Aires but with the realization that I am actually right here in my DC apartment, kinda strange and detaching, like watching a movie where you are the main character, and somehow feeling as if you are also writing the plot, you get me?? We have so many little projects to fire up here at the shop, it is quite exhilarating actually. To run down several: we will be starting by creating a seasonal, changing-all-the-time dessert menu, which will consists of several sundaes or coppettas. We will use gelato as the base and combine it with homesade sauces, ganaches, whipped cream, pralines, granitas, semmifreddos, cookies, brownies, spices, salts and such. It will be an a adventure of flavor and texture combinations. For example, i am thinking of having a CHOCOLATE AMARGO COPPETTA, which will consist of a scoop of our valrhona chocolate amargo gelato, a scoop of blood orange sorbetto, home made cream chantilly and home made chocolate ganache. The fruit component, blood orange in this case, will change with the seasons, so in May and June, we may combine the chocolate gelato with a strawberry sorbetto, while they are in season locally. Another idea is a simple ESPRESSO GRANITA, an elegant combination of espresso granita and home made cream chantilly. It will be an embarkment on a whole slew of new flavor creations and we are psyched.
Sometime around May, we will also be launch our full cafe, which means we will begin to open at 7:30 in the morning and offering several coffee varietals by setting up a pour over bar and using the beautiful changing coffees of our roaster Counter Culture Coffee. For pastries, we will be using the amazing-delicate-delicious-insane pastries of Wes over Quail Creek Ovens, which we will pick up every week when we set up our tent next to him at Penn Quarter Farmers' Market, which starts early April. Speaking of farmers' markets we will be starting in Dupont Circle Farmers' Market this coming Sunday or the next, depends on what Bernie says. Come April and May we will be running 5 farmers markets: Dupont Circle, Penn Qtr, 14th & U, H St NE and Falls Church. Things are about to go hell-fire-crazy around here we is ready to burn!

Uruguay

...from the many pages that have been read on this trip along the coast of Uruguay...

"We modern human beings are looking at life, trying to make some sense of it; observing a 'reality' that often seems to be unfolding in a foreign tongue - only we've all been issued the wrong librettos. For a text, we're given the Bible. Or the Talmud or the Koran. We're given Time magazine and Reader's Digest, daily papers and the six o'clock news, we're given psychological counseling, cults, workshops, advertisements, sales pitches, and authoritative pronouncements by pundits, sold-out scientists, political activists, and heads of state. Unfortunately, none of these translations bears more than a faint resemblance to what is transpiring in the true theater of existence, and most of them are dangerously misleading. We're attempting to comprehend the spiraling intricacies of a magnificently complex tragicomedy with librettos that describe barroom melodramas or kindergarten skits. And when's the last time you heard anybody bitch about it to the management?"

Maddening

Well, here it is around 6am & i can´t find a wink of sleep. Part insomniac, part beautiful mind, i don´t really know, all i know is that the schedule i have grown to know over the last 3 weeks here in Buenos Aires is strangely altered. We tried to go to bed early last night because we didn´t have our siesta and were pretty exhausted, so we went to sleep at around 2am & here i am 4 hours later with my mind spinning like a top. The rhythms, the conversations, the characters, the nights, the days, all of it feels like it´s out of a Fellini movie. Typically, we wake up at noon & go have our coffee and some kind of bread product, toast or medialuna, then we meet up for lunch, at around 2pm with either family or friends. We then go out for several hours and do something, yesterday was the antique flea market looking for old vintage plates and spoons for the shop, the day before we went to visit the 98 year old grandmother, who by the way is super lucid and can rap with you on the current political situation in just about any country, we then eventually make our way back to our apartment and take a 2 hour siesta, trying to lay down no later than 6pm. At around 8pm, we start to stir again and head out to the house of some friends, where there is always some form of fire, wood and burning meat involved and we stay up on the rooftops eating, talking lots of delirium, drinking, smoking and bending over laughing from the previously mentioned delirium. All this usually winds down at around 3 or 4am and we head back home to get some sleep. i have no concept of day & night down here, it all gets mixed together, stuffed somewhere between napping, eating and hanging out. It is quite maddening and i can´t get enough of it. Dear lord, how in the hell are we going to adjust to our schedule in WDC in a little over a week?
On Monday, we take off to Uruguay, where we will rent a car and travel the coast for some days. Maybe we will find some peace and normality in the ocean and her beaches, who knows? All i do know is that on this trip, i have connected to the strange soul of this sleepless, groping city of Buenos Aires. It gets into your skin and you don´t ever want to wash it off. I don´t really know where this connection to Latin America comes from, i have had it since i lived in Brasil, maybe i have latin roots somewhere, i don´t really know, all i do know is that a part of me doesn´t want to go, go, going, going, gone...