Fiasco Gelato, Kensington (Cgy)

[John Manzo]

Fiasco Gelato has had a weird history- opened with lots of promise in the block that was subsequently demolished on 17th Ave SW, then having built its own building across the street, closed it; before that they'd opened downtown, but were kicked out for Fashion Central renos, opened on 10 St NW in Kensington; closed there, then opened new locations in Burnaby BC and in the western 'burbs ... and now have again opened in the inner city in the same location that they sold (??) in Kensington. In that time they've also expanded and contracted their menus, adding excellent crepes and then getting rid of them, adding excellent panini and then changing their superb bread provider... and let's not even talk about the erratic hours. Fiasco has been a frustrating place to love.

But Kensington is back open, and it's under new ownership. I hate to say this because I really liked Matt and his vision for gelato in Calgary, but this new version is a big improvement. There are more gelati, more creative flavours, and the sorbetti are just amazing- lemon that's not just lemon but lemon with poppyseeds; orange is a tart lovely blood orange; pear is so pure and delicious. I got a small (still the best prices for gelato I've seen in Canada, incidentally, MUCH cheaper than Amato or Tutti Fruitti) with half blood orange sorbetto and half orange-and-cream gelato. It was BRILLIANT, and all that I sampled was good too.

Other cool things: cupcakes from Buttercream, coffee is no longer Illy (too expensive, too stale) but Kicking Horse, which is dark for my tastes but fresher and local; four nice-sounding panini are on offer every day, and perhaps most important is that the space has been improved dramatically with the only window no longer covered up with equipment but now open and welcoming.

I didn't note what new hours are but it would be great to Fiasco 2.0 open outside of summer!

[John Manzo]

So I was in K'ton last week and Fiasco is EMPTY- is this another reno or are they closing yet again? As of the date I passed by there was no "for lease" sign in the windows. Anybody have info?

[cancowboy]

FWIW (and as posted in the "Kensington rumours" thread)
At the beginning of January, they had a sign posted on the front door that they would be closed for the month of January and at the time I speculated that they were doing more renos. The freezers were sitting out on the sidewalk that day.
The sign is (obviously) no longer there so what is happening is anyone's guess.

[cancowboy]

It occurred to me this morning that they might have a Twitter or Facebook page (which they do) but there are no postings since the fall.

[cn1822]

I can tell you for a fact that they aren't opening there again. You can quote me on that.

I believe something else not food related is opening there.

[fiascogelato]

Hey everyone! James from Fiasco here. Thanks for keeping us on your radar this last little bit, but unfortunately after lengthy discussions we were unable to come to an agreeable term with our landlord in our newly renovated Kensington space.

I am actively searching for a comparable space in Kensington to allow us to do what we had set out to do this year and offer us a long-term relationship. As we had made mention before, our goal was to build a solid offering to allow us to remain open all year round. This will happen asap.

If you have any additional questions of feedback you can reach me directly through [e-mail] . Thank you for all of your support and hope to see you opening day.

Ciao for now,
James.

[pants]

i'm very excited to hear they have blood orange!! now i can make the blood orange martini's they make at the no longer parkside restaurant in vancouver!!! the blood orange sobetti they put in that drink just made it that much better... or try your combination john! that sounds fantastic.

do they have afogatos (sp?) those are my favorite treat - they would be really good with kicking horse too and the gelato should cut the coffee a bit. i love the flavour of kicking horse but my stomach doesn't appreciate it much.

i'll have to check it out - too bad they didn't make a second go of it on 17th...

[maplesugar]

Fiasco's website says they offer affogato(plur. affogati I think) but it also says thy're still serving Illy... I thought of stopping in tonight but ended up getting some fantastic blackberry sorbet and a nice cherry tart with fromage blanc at Nectar...omg lots of seasonal tarts and other goodies to try...it's good (for my waistline) I don't live close to Inglewood. :)

http://www.fiascogelato.com/

[23skidoo]

Terrible website! It plays sound, and the locations list is out of date - the "uptown" (17th) and "downtown" (1st st) locations are long gone.
It's not surprising it still says they serve Illy.

[kemen]

I stopped in last week, the night of their grand opening, and they had affogato on the menu board, so I presume they're offering it.

[John Manzo]

I'd say it's 3 years out of date- but yes they have affogati there.

[pants]

the dog needed some stimulation yesterday so we went for a little stroll in kensington and headed to fiasco, we had the blood orange sorbetti and a hazelnut affogato - the girl didn't really know what she was doing so it wasn't a very pretty affogato - gelato jammed into a cup with a shot of espresso....but the parts were there so it tasted great, i didn't see what kind of espresso it was- too busy taking things outside to the SO while he watched the dog. i did take a taste of raspberry/pistachio and it was yummy, that will be the choice next time. pistachio is my gelato bar, each place is rated on the quality of the pistachio :)

[sharonanne]

Ya think their name could have cursed them? I can't let even a scrap of irony pass me by without comment.

Sounds good though. Where on 10th?

[John Manzo]

I agree, not the smartest choice of name... it's exactly where it was before, next door to Vero Bistro.

[sharonanne]

I don't know where it was before. :-)

Guess I need to get down there more often. I Googled Vero Bistro and I'm set, thanks. Looks like it's near the skateboarding store. We all have our landmarks (or our children's).