Press. voanews.com
This is a story
about a man and his gelato. Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, and ice
cream is a hugely popular treat among Americans.
But gelato is
not exactly ice cream.
It is made with
some milk instead of all cream which gives it less fat content, and it's
churned in a way that infuses less air, which creates a denser, creamier
product with a few less of those waistline-obliterating calories.
It's also a
small-batch product, which brings us back to the man. Gianluigi Dellaccio was
born in Italy. He's one of four kids. His dad was a traveling insurance
salesman, and his mom was a housewife. "When I was 6 years old, I had this
accident," he explained. "And the accident put me in a position that
I had to go swim to help my scoliosis."
It wasn't long
before a water polo coach asked him to join the junior national team. He scored
the game-winning goal — seen here at around the 0:50 mark — at the championship
game. It landed him a spot on the
national team and also taught him a valuable life lesson. "All the
strength, all the dedication that I put in the sport I choose to invest it in
my own life," he said.
Sweet dreams
Gianluigi chose
to invest in gelato and introduce it to Americans. He learned the business from
his family in Germany, and later became a master gelatiere in Milan. He took a
job teaching the craft at a youth offenders' prison. It was the first time he'd
used the type of authentic, gelato-making equipment that would shape his
future. "My dream was always to open a gelato shop here, in the United
States," he said.
But the dream
was a dream.
Gianluigi came
to the U.S. in February 2000. He found work as a pastry chef at Galileo
Restaurant here. The job helped put him on the path to permanent residency. But
then 9-11 happened. The immigration process slowed to a crawl.
Gianluigi had to
wait six years to get his green card so that he could legally stay and work in
the United States. During that time, he was not allowed to go home to see
family and friends.
"It was
very tough, because sometimes you have those days that you feel lonely and sad
— homesick," he said. "Those days help[ed] me to build my
strength."
Award winner
Finally, in
2006, he was able to open his gelato shop, Dolci Gelati. He fixed up a Vespa,
like the ones he'd had all his life, and he put a small trailer on the back. He
went door to door, from one restaurant to another, offering chefs tastes of his
product. The direct marketing worked. A decade later, Gianluigi now has two
stores in the Washington area.
He's also got a
stand at Major League Baseball's Nationals Park.
"Once you
reach a goal, you need to put another target to keep going, because if you
reach one goal and you settle, that's the day that you go down," he said. Gianluigi
was a recent finalist in Chicago at the Gelato World Tour. He will compete for
the World's Best Gelato title in Italy in 2017. It's a sweet ending for a sweet
dream-turned-reality through years of work, big smiles and a little scooter.
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