It’s a familiar Bay Area story: Two guys in business school meet, hatch an idea, then launch the next big thing.

Only this time, it’s not the latest whiz-bang tech invention.

It’s dreamy gelato.

Antonio Massimini, 31, and Henri Waltenspühl, 28, met in business school in Milan, and soon realized they shared a passion for gelato. The next thing you know, both enrolled at Gelato University in Bologna. (Now, that’s where I’d like to get a PhD.)

After doing their research, they decided to open in San Francisco because they figured the city’s discriminating, gourmet palates would appreciate it. It also helped that Antonio had family in the Bay Area, and was familiar with the area.

In January, they opened their Coletta Gelato, a production plant and a retail shop on Harrison Street, where Ciao Bella used to make its gelato.

The two invited me in last week to do a tasting. The business is named for Henri’s grandmother, who first introduced him to gelato. She depicted on a bench in a whimsical mural inside the store that’s a focal point for a real bench.

Antonio, who is half Italian and half Venezuelan, and Henri, who is half Italian and half Swiss, financed the company, themselves, with help from investors in Europe.

“Henri is the chef; I wash the dishes,” Antonio jokes.

What sets their gelato apart from others locally, they say, is the fact that they make their own base from scratch, which allows them to control the sugar level and freshness.

They use local organic fruits, as well as Clover milk. They also make a point to use local products such as Guittard chocolate, Samovar tea, Standard Deviant Stout, and Ritual Coffee.

At the scoop shop in front of the building, there are always eight gelato flavors plus two sorbettos available. On any given day, that might include the likes of Irish Coffee, Cookie Coconut, and Coco Banana Rum.

The best seller is Gianduia, which is always available. It’s like Nutella, but less sweet and way more potent tasting. It’s dense, as gelato doesn’t have as much air whipped into it as American-style ice cream. It’s also incredibly creamy. Texture is paramount to Massimini and Waltenspühl.

The pistachio is life-changing. It’s my favorite, full of the pricier pistachios they buy from Sicily or Turkey. In fact, they say, they cram 200 grams of pistachios per liter into their pistachio gelato. It’s the most you can add before the mixture gets too oily to freeze properly.

It’s the best pistachio I’ve had. And believe me, I’ve had many others. The flavor is so robust that it’s like having a mouthful of the best pistachios. You can even taste the toastiness of the nuts.

The two are working on some new offerings, including affogato, gelato cookie sandwiches, and brioche stuffed with gelato. They’re also experimenting with vegan and low-glycemic versions of gelato, too.

The shop has a suggestion board by the door, where folks can add their ideas for new flavors. Henri takes them to heart, too. After one suggestion for “Birthday Cake” left him baffled, since they don’t have such a flavor in Italy, he went to a bakery to buy a birthday cake to sample just to get the flavor right. He also took up another suggestion for a bacon gelato, which he admits he found bizarre, but which sold like crazy.

Like all new ideas these days, Coletta Gelato also has a mobil component. Literally. It has two push carts, along with two Italian cruisers — a refrigerated cart that holds eight flavors that is hooked up to a bicycle.

Those have been popular for weddings and corporate events. In fact, much to their surprise, they didn’t even have a catering component in the business plan. But they’ve done 100 events this year alone, comprising about half their business.

Some day, they would like to have their gelato sold at gourmet grocery stores and used at restaurants.

For now, you’ll have to content yourself to visiting their shop to get a taste. This stretch of Harrison Street, near the I-80 on-ramp, isn’t always the easiest stretch to find parking. But it’s definitely worth the effort to find a spot to try some fantastic gelato.