Nick Vainisi

Ciao! My name is Nick, and I’m from Chicago! I am a marketing major at the University of Oklahoma, and I will be a senior this fall. I have always loved the culture, language and especially the food found in Italy, and I am super thankful that I get to live in Arezzo for the month!

Get to the Punto!

Finding a town without a gelateria in Italy is like finding Bigfoot; it just doesn’t happen. Fortunately for those of us that need to satisfy our sweet tooth occasionally, Arezzo is home to a handful of them. One that I find myself going back to again and again is Punto Gelato.

Punto Gelato is located on Via Giuseppe Verdi right next to Piazza San Jacopo, and even though it is not in the immediate city center, the five additional minutes it takes to walk there is always worth it.

You’ll know it when you come across this spot because of the crowd of people sitting outside, all happily licking a freshly scooped cone. The doors are wide open, inviting you in to smell the sweetness on the other side of the counter.

Behind a large glass window are huge mounds of mouth-watering, creamy gelato. Each flavor looks so good and extremely pleasing to the eye, which makes the next step the hardest part: choosing which of the dozens of flavors to include in your cup or cone.

When craving something sweet, stracciatella is a fan favorite. Stracciatella is a staple flavor in Italy, and to Americans, it’s chocolate chip on steroids. The gelato dissolves in your mouth leaving a sweet aftertaste while the hardened chocolate adds a subtle crunch. This union of vanilla and chocolate is a match made in heaven and never disappoints.

There are too many fruit-flavored gelatos to count. To give an ode to a few I’ve enjoyed: mela limone (lemon), fregola (strawberry) and mela verde (green apple) are anything but unsatisfactory. Each is cold and sweet and tastes very similar to the fruit.

The lemon is sour and acidic but not so much that it’s unenjoyable. Just the right amount. The reddish-pink flavor is smooth and soft and will surely rank high, if not the highest, among all the strawberry gelatos you have tried.

Green apple is the most unique, however. Not only does it taste exactly like an apple would, but mixed into the gelato are tiny flakes of the peel to give the gelato the same texture as an actual apple.

I find myself returning to Punto Gelato time after time because of the variety of options and the top-notch quality I and many others have the pleasure of enjoying every time we go. Everyone in Arezzo at some point needs to hop in line and get to the Punto!