09 Sep Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Fatamorgana Gelato

Doing my annual house-sitting duties for my parents, my childhood home in Studio City becomes my home-base for a few weeks. As I was sitting at my computer, I saw a friend post about a new gelato place in Studio City. How could I not know about this place just down the street? How did my ice-cream-aholic mother not know? Well, that is because it opened the week my parents left on their trip. So, with the excess heat, I ventured out not once, but twice (ok three times) in just as many days to enjoy a gelato from Fatamorgana and hence Fatamorgana is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Fatamorgana Gelato is authenic gelato. It was founded in Italy in 2003 by Mari Agnese Spagnuolo and there are eight locations in Rome. And now Studio City, California is the ninth location. Fatamorgana gelato is made from scratch. There are no bases, additives, thickeners, stabilizers or artificial colors or flavors used. The milk is pasteurized in-house and then the water, cream and selected ingredients (fruits, nuts, spices, herbs) are added. There are 66 fresh flavors on display every day and the flavors change regularly. With so many flavors, it is hard to choose one. Well, actually you can choose two flavors in the small cup and you can taste as many as you like in order to make your decision. There are classic flavors, sorbets and many interesting flavors such as Thumbelina (walnuts, rose petals and violet flowers), “Pensiero” (pink grapefruit, ginger root, horseradish, caramelized lemon) and “Chocolate Kentucky” (chocolate with Kentucky tobacco infusion). No matter what you chose, the flavors are authentic and powerful. The espresso tastes just like fresh espresso. The black olive gelato tastes like cold olive tapenade. There is poppyseed gelato, licorice, white almonds, matcha basil avocado with fruit pearls, fresh mint and chocolate, chocolate coffee with hazelnut and on and on. From simple to creative, there are so many choices! I have a weakness for ice cream and gelato and with each scoop having a low fat content of 6% to 8%, Fatamorgana gelato can be enjoyed without the guilt! Fatamorgana 12021 Ventura Blvd., Studio City