When the history of the Toronto gelato industry is written – and I am probably the one to write it – the name Hart Melvin and Gelato Fresco (GF) will stand the tallest among the various pioneers. Founded 38 years ago, GF may not have been the oldest Toronto gelato maker; that distinction most likely belongs to La Paloma, now 56. However, Gelato Fresco must win top honours for being the most innovative and for having evolved the most of any one in the industry – while still retaining superior quality and making the product the old-fashioned, time-honoured way. 

Gelato Fresco earned fame with such outstanding flavours as raspberry, which has been its most popular since 1985. BC raspberry prices went through the roof and Melvin raised prices accordingly but it still was scooped up. The secret: the high percentage of fruit. When such outstanding flavours as Alfonso Mango, Milanese Vanilla and Devil’s Chocolate came on the market, they were ‘to die for’ and still are. And if you asked most gelato lovers what Gelato Fresco did, they might say “sells pints in Canadian retail stores.” I must confess I thought that too though that is not at all what the company is about today.

In the heady days of Dave Nichol and President’s Choice engulfing the market, Gelato Fresco was delivering to some 40 Loblaws. It was quite an endorsement, as people went wild about Nichols’ product innovations, including his ice creams. 

Melvin credits one Toronto restaurant scene immortal, Franco Prevedello, first of Pronto, then Centro and some 24 others, in encouraging his interest in Italian food culture and telling him to go to Italy to learn gelato technology first hand.. 

Mark McEwan was also establishing his name at the time and was an initial customer. It was a golden era of Toronto restaurants. 

Melvin learned his gelato artistry under the tutelage of Elio Marinuzzi, whose father-in-law was at the Umberto of Milano’s Umberto’s Gelateria, which dates to 1934 and just might be only the second gelato outlet in the city.

As the Milan’s Corriere della Sera wrote of Umberto’s: 

“His name is Elio but to everyone he is Umberto, his father-in-law, but as often happens with those who run someone else’s company, the identity remains the same: they both grew up in Piazza Cinque Giornate, and passing down that name was easy. 

“Elio, now 84, is no longer able to go to the laboratory but demands gelato tastes every day. It happens at 11 o’clock. Stefano, Elio’s son arrives at his father’s door, rings the bell and goes up to the floor of an elegant building just beyond the shop. Once inside, he places the first tastings on the kitchen table. “Only if it is perfect do I give my consent to the sale,” Elio says. 

It’s old-fashioned quality control: “For me the ice cream must be exactly as my father-in-law Umberto taught me to make,” Elio added. “I remember when I started going to the back with him. I was 25 years old. Not a word, just eyes and gestures. This is how I learned: by watching. And so I taught, by doing. Few rules: only seasonal products and fruits.”

One could say the same of Hart Melvin and Gelato Fresco. That was the environment that shaped Melvin, and his gelato. While using modern equipment, he preserves the old traditions. He even went to southern India to observe how his mango puree was made. “Peeled and split into three parts, thousands and thousands of mangos, the best in the world,” he says.

India also appears to be a new lodestone for Gelato Fresco. Indian vanilla is even more perfect than the Milanese version. Creamy, deep, with a major vanilla burst on first taste and after. Hart passed on some Indian vanilla pods described as “complex, heady, rummy, smoky, woody, sweet” so that I could try using them; previously mine came from Madagascar or Tahiti. Everyone here enjoyed taking a deep breath into the vanilla; comparing it with the Tahitian pods was a revelation. A stronger more profound perfume of vanilla. Can’t wait to try it. 

But what Melvin has done with his company is nothing short of remarkable. Ever been to the Keg and wanted dessert? Bet you ordered Billy Miner Pie –mocha ice cream, chocolate crust, fudge, caramel, almonds. And where does the Keg obtain this frozen little gem? None other than Gelato Fresco, which delivers 120,000 pies each year. Do the kids want cones? There’s a paper cone with Gelato Fresco, which also is a great special order for parties, like one that recently celebrated Roots’ 50^th anniversary. 

“As a frozen dessert, the pie has a long shelf life and does not go stale like a cake, so it’s very appealing,” he says. And if you are out west, at a Franworks restaurant such as

Original Joe’s and order a Dirt Pie, or State & Main, and have the Main Street Mocha Pie, no doubt it’s a Gelato Fresco creation. Cathay Pacific Airlines, a classy fleet, and business class on Lufthansa – Gelato Fresco. In addition, GF ships truckloads of sorbets to Brooklyn’s Klein’s Kosher; dairy can’t be shipped across the border, but sorbets (non-dairy) can be and they are by definition Kosher. 

His raspberry chocolate tartufo, an innovation when it was introduced, remains the gold standard in catering operations, and has not changed appreciably. A good thing for sure. 

Melvin has never compromised on his flavour development. While others may resort to mixes and flavours from Italy, Melvin does not. I witnessed it. If he’s making raspberry sorbet or ice cream, there’s a huge vat of the fruit. In addition, while most sorbet recipes call for something like a 50/50 balance of simple syrup (sugar and water) to fruit, GF makes recipes as close to entirely fruit as possible. That’s something I am going to try and will report on that. 

Melvin’s viewpoint is that if you plan on indulging in something like gelato, it might as well be the real thing. “Gelato is better than ice cream,” he says. “The flavours are intense, there’s less air and ice cream’s higher butterfat masks the real tastes of fruit or chocolate or nuts. I would never want anything less than the real thing.” 

Hart Melvin is an old-fashioned man, an artisan in a mechanized world. “Our sorbets are made in the orthodox Italian style, for a fresh taste and ‘ice cream’ mouth feel. No water is added unless required. We use the finest fruits from around the world  — raspberries from British Columbia, for example — they’re frozen with ‘batch’ overrun of about 20%, no added colour or flavour, and using pure vegetable stabilizers to ensure textural integrity. They’re fat and dairy free. It can’t get any better than fruit and sugar!” And it doesn’t. Visiting Gelato Fresco and talking with Hart Melvin renews my faith that with a little commitment and total dedication, an artisanal culture can thrive. It was very exciting to visit.