I Scream
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Dominic Armato | |
I promise, at some point I'll actually write about the actual Chinese food I actually ate on this actual trip to China. But before I do, another quick detour, because I feel compelled to rave about this place.
In Pacific Place, a particularly swanky mall in Hong Kong, there's a branch of the Japanese department store, Seibu. Like many Japanese department stores, the entire basement is taken up by a phenomenal food market. For years I've lamented the fact that we don't have markets like these in the States (not of this quality and scale, anyway), and though it's smaller than its bretheren back in Japan, I think the one in the Hong Kong Seibu, named GREAT Food Hall, is my favorite. While there are international delicacies to be found in the Japanese department stores, the focus is definitely on Japanese food. At the Hong Kong Seibu, however, it's a crazy international mix that I don't want to get into too much because it totally deserves its own post. But among its many, many exceptional features, my favorite may be the little gelato stand, I Scream.
The culinary genius at the helm of I Scream is one Paolo Predonzan, a gelataio who trained in Italy, worked for a time in Vienna and then moved to Hong Kong in 2003 to bring authentic gelato to the East. Along with his business partner, Maddalena Gonzo, he opted to eschew the retail market, instead focusing on providing gelato for the city's high-end restaurants. Until recently, that is, when I Scream's first retail outlet was opened in the GREAT Food Hall. It's a small booth, featuring maybe two dozen rotating flavors, a little espresso and a small menu of sundae-like concoctions. It's mostly a take-away establishment, though there is a tiny counter with four stools, where the lovely Italian lady running the show will not only take care of you, but happily chatter away with you if you display a little knowledge of her native language. In my case, "buona sera" did the trick.
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Dominic Armato | |
What makes Paolo's gelato so exceptional, beyond the technical mastery involved, is that he knows when to lay on the sugar and when to let it take a back seat. Paolo knows how to intensify the flavor such that it kicks you around a little, he knows how to dial it back and keep things light and refreshing and, most importantly, he knows when to do which. This isn't a matter of slapping 30 different fruits into the same base. It's clear that each flavor is meticulously crafted and balanced and tweaked until it's just perfect. To encounter this level of creativity, innate ability and technical mastery in the same gelataio is a rare thing, and should be celebrated. His business partner, Maddalena, has commented that with gelato so new to Hong Kong, it's been a challenge to educate the palates of their customers. I have to believe they'll figure out very quickly what a gem they have. And if they don't, they should feel free to send Paolo in my direction.
I Scream | |
GREAT Food Hall | |
Pacific Place | |
88 Queensway Road, Admiralty | |
Hong Kong | |
+852 6272 6098 | |
Mon - Sun | 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM |
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