I admit it’s a bit weird.  But I get giddy when I see others living their passion and taking an idea and bringing it to life.  {Sidenote: That’s clearly why I enjoy my Rock the Party consulting biz so, so much.  It’s a total win-win: not only do I help entrepreneurs create viable brands from ideas, but I also derive inexplicable joy when they succeed! Call me selfish.}

Over the Christmas holiday, I got the idea to feature business owners on my blog that I cross paths with, who are living their passion and building charming lifestyle businesses.  But I needed a new project like I needed a hole in the head.  And so I tucked it away at the back of my mind along with the other 399 ideas.  But each time since December, when I’ve met a fabulous entrepreneur successfully taking fabulous risks, I’ve wished that I had a neat way to build them into my site.

Yesterday I got an email from a dear friend (that’s her, above) that, after six years, her gelato business, Dolci Gelati, is opening its first storefront in Takoma Park, DC, this weekend! I was grinning from ear to ear sitting at my desk.  Not only is the gelato to die for (trust me) – but Anastasia is an inspiration for me because she is the definition of ‘multipassionate.’  In fact, I talked about her as part of my mini-keynote last year at Mom 2.0 Summit on that very topic.  She also happens to be the Communications Director for the UN Foundation, the parent organization of the Shot@Life campaign that I’ve worked with for the past couple of years.

In a perfect mashup of two of her passions, Dolci Gelati is offering a special for the month of April: for each scoop of the limited edition Shot@Life flavor ordered, 50 cents will be donated to the campaign.

Talk about a sweet deal all around.

And so last night I decided to stop fighting it.  Say hello to: ‘Life Is the Party: Passion Profiles.’  There’s just too many delightful small business owners doing their thing.

About Dolci Gelati

Dolci Gelati Café to Open Storefront in Takoma Park This Weekend

For Grand Opening will Offer Buy One Get One Free from 11am-1pm

 

Washington, D.C. (April 3, 2013) Buy one get one free!  This Saturday, April 6, more than six years after Dolci Gelati first came to DC, Chef Gianluigi Dellaccio and his business partner/wife Anastasia along with fellow Italian and local entrepreneur Marcello Minna have announced that they will openDolci Gelati Café, their first storefront, in Takoma Park. Dolci Gelati can currently be found at Nationals’ Stadium as well as in restaurants and markets throughout the Washington Metro area such as Whole Foods and Taylor Gourmet.

The first planned location will open its doors in Takoma Park just 10 minutes from the Dolci Gelato laboratorio “kitchen”, on 7000 Carroll ave., in the heart of the trendy neighborhood.  As part of their opening, Dolci Gelati will offer a free gelato from 11am-1 pm to whoever buys one.

Chef Gianluigi currently has created more than 300 varieties of homemade gelato, and will bring his crowd-pleasing favorites such as salted caramel, white chocolate raspberry and bacio to the store daily.   The Chef will also experiment with fresh, new flavors including creating a health-conscious line with tantalizing treats like Green Tea, Pomegranate Powerberry and a Super Citrus Antioxidant sorbet. Dolci Gelati Café will also feature a Social Good flavor, from which the profits will go to a variety of great causes including the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign, a movement to protect children worldwide by providing life-saving vaccines where they are most needed, and Lukes Wings, a charity that unites wounded warriors, veterans and heroes with their loved ones when they need them most.

“For years my creations have been bound by what the markets would order.  I have so many new ideas that I want to try both in gelato and pastry and now I have my own place to do so,” said Chef Gianluigi. “I can’t wait to connect with our customers on a new level and offer new varieties that they have only imagined, while staying true to my family’s recipe that I learned growing up in Italy.”

Marcello Minna also explained” After almost two decades as a coffee distributor to restaurants, I will finally have the chance to see, for the first time, people’s reaction when experiencing my coffee. The best part of this adventure is going through this process with a great friend like Gianluigi in one of the best communities in the Washington, DC area.”

Before creating Dolci Gelati, Chef Gianluigi was a Pastry Chef at Galileo, as well as an Italian Water Polo Champion. The Chef plans to incorporate his background as a pastry chef to develop many new items.  The menu will include “cupcake cones”- ice cream cones filled with cupcake and chocolate ganache center, gelato sundaes, pastry and several varieties of praline nuts and artisan kettle corn (chocolate covered, cotton candy, bacon, and parmesan).

Also in the works – Dolci Gelati Café will open their second location next spring at the City Market at O development on 8^th street between O and P Street.  The complex will be erected in Shaw and will also include a renovated state of the art Giant as well as a hotel, apartment complex and other retail and restaurants.

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Dolci Gelati was started in 2005 by Former Italian champion water polo player turned pastry chef Gianluigi Dellaccio. Dolci Gelati offers many great varieties of gelato with a consistent level of quality that can only be achieved with artisan precision. The process starts every morning with deliveries from local dairy farms and other handpicked fruits, fine chocolates and other fresh ingredients.  Gelato offers the same great taste as ice cream with 1/3 the fat and none of the artificial ingredients. Gianluigi uses a 100% authentic Italian recipe and local fresh ingredients to bring you a little bit of Italy across the Atlantic.

Gianluigi whose experience takes him from Italy, Galileo and the Ritz Carlton also serves his gelato at The Washington National’s Stadium, The Pennsylvania Turnpike and hundreds of locations all over metro DC and further.  Dolci Gelati can also be found in pints at Whole Foods, Dean and Deluca, Taylor Gourmet and many more markets.  Ask about our catering packages, homemade popsicles, kettle corn, cotton candy and more!

For more information about Dolci Gelati please visit www.dolcigelati.net  follow @DolciGelati on twitter and facebook .