High Praise for Coletta Gelato
Mediterane (pistachio and almond) at Coletta Gelato.
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.
Founders Antonio Massimini and Henri Waltenspühl beside a mural of Henri’s grandmother, for whom the shop is named.
The sweet mural on the garage.
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.