It's so good I've already finished it.

Wouldja loogit that? That, friends and neighbors, is a Bacio and Thai Coconut Milk frappe. Seriously, in the time it took for the image to get from my phone to my computer via email I've finished it. It was GOOD. The best part about our frappes? They don't end in "-ccino." They don't contain any powdered milk or shelf-life-extending stabilizers or other assorted nonsense. They CAN, if you like, contain a shot of espresso for when you feel like your get up and go has got up and went. And since we're the cool kids out here on the west side...see those bottles peeking out over the frappe's left shoulder? Yeah...that's for the adults in the audience. We make frappes for big kids, we do. Jen's on the bar tonight, you should come say hi.

And it's definitely frappe weather. Have you looked outside? It is days like this when we're grateful for our floor-to-ceiling windows here at CapoPenn. And it's baseball season! BASEBALL. Takin' my mom to our first game of the year next Sunday. Go Phillies! Spring. Been done sprung.

Instagram, aka my newest obsession

For those of you who, like me, have been living under a rock for the past few months, I give you Instagram, a cool new social media app that allows users to upload photos and share/comment on them with other users. It's like Facebook for photos. This app was only available for iPhone/iPod users until yesterday, when it became available on Android phones. Ok fine, I guess we iPhone folks can share. In any case, one of the coolest features of Instagram is that you can add a hashtag to your photos (which actually mean something, unlike on Facebook where they just make you took like an idiot), and sort them by category. For example, when you search by #capogiro, you get lots of lovely photos from users like this:



Super fun, right?! You should all join and send me some of your photos. I promise if I don't look ugly in them, I will consider using them in this blog.

Bananas!!

Like the label says it is "Highly Underrated." I usually don't like banana flavored anything except for the fruits themselves but I make an exception for Banana Gelato and Bananas Foster. Pair either of those with some Scuro and you are right up in the sky floating on a cloud. Our Chocolate Banana is amazing as well but you really need to give the pure banana and pure chocolate a try and then you can mix them up yourself.

Cavendish Banana's (which is most of what you find in the US) are all genetically engineered clones. Natural, wild bananas actually have large, hard, marble-like seeds inside them making them very difficult to eat. They are usually also smaller and less sweet than what we are used to leaving less reward for the hard work of eating them.

I mentioned in my last post that banana's are the most radioactive fruit. They are actually also used as a unit, called a BED or banana equivalent dose, for measuring the amount of radiation a person has absorbed. It is arguably not a very good comparison because our bodies maintain homeostasis and you don't gain more radioactivity by eating more banana's. So radioactive though they may be don't be worried that they will start making you glow green.

I will leave you with this, my favorite scene from Beetlejuice:

Confidential to Tandy, re: weekly videos.

It hath been broughten.

Bacio: Chocolatey Stalwart

There are definitely some gelato flavors we rely on nearly as much as our Big Six daily staples, and our Bacio is definitely one of them. It should be obvious that we think chocolate gelato and hazelnuts harmonize pretty well with one another, given that we always have some variety of it--the Gianduia and Nutella are sort of the second and third starters to Bacio's ace status in the Capogiro pitching rotation--but the Bacio is really the one that people look for the most.

And well they should. The direct translation for bacio in English is "kiss," and though I'm not going to pretend to know anything at all about Italian etymology, I like to think that the looser translation is along the lines of "buss" or "peck," mostly because I'm oddly romantic about descriptors for frozen chocolate awesomeness. Thing is, they're a little misleading. An awful lot of us at Capogiro aren't altogether of the "quick peck on the cheek" crowd, and that pretty well shows up in the Bacio. The implication is that it's "kissed" with hazelnuts, but I don't really think that does that gelato justice. It's not at all one of those two-cheek-but-please-don't-smudge-my-makeup air kisses that I've always found it awkwardly fascinating to witness. It's more like the funny competition between two friends (in this powerfully streched metaphor, imagine that the two friends are the hazelnuts and chocolate) who haven't seen each other in too long to get to plant one on one another's cheeks.

My favorite thing about Bacio is that it's one of the pretty rare gelati we make that has just the slightest hint of chunks to it. Not a lot at all; the candied hazelnuts we stir in really bring more of a bit of crispiness to it without getting in the way of the silkiness of the gelato itself. And of COURSE the Bacio pairs well with so many of our other flavors. Truth be told, we're all sort of in that yearly holding pattern wherein we're waiting for the strawberries to arrive. It's sort of distracting. But if you're going to have high standards like we do, you're also going to need to have some patience. So my favorite way to have bacio? Definitely on its own in a frappe. MAYBE a shot of espresso, but that's pretty well gilding the lily.

So the next time your barista tells you that the Bacio is on fire on that particular day, believe them. And have some. Obviously our gelato is always awesome, but sometimes the stars align and it becomes epically transcendent. And that's when you get yourself a frappe and sit outside in the sunshine.

Technology from the future

So, we may not have our jetpacks or hoverboards as promised just yet, but at 20th Street we feel like we're living in the future. Wonder boy, Andy, just made our computer awesome, and now it's running like its 2025. It's amazingly fast. Ludicrous even. Because it's running so well, we can do things that we've never been able to do before, like post videos in our blog. For example;



I can't tell you how great it is to be able to compete with Jay on the video front, although we promise not to do it as often as he does. Which is like every week.

In other 20th Street news, it's apparently winter again, -ish. Rittenhouse seems very confused as to what to wear. We're seeing a lot of scarves with shorts, flip flops and beanies, sweaters and sunglasses. It's madness. We're hoping that the cold will soon pass and that nature can decide to give us a couple of months of delicious spring before it unleashes the unbearable heat of nuclear summer. Our motto is to be prepared for everything. So while we are stocked up with warm weather fare like granita and iced coffee, we still have hearty soups to warm your bones.

601th blog post. Aka a suitable time for a sign-off.

Hi, my name is Kamala and I have worked for Capogiro for the last 6 years. I started out as a slightly smarmy barista, fell into sales and emerged an in-house artist. I made this here blog that yer readin'... designed the menus, banners, flavor tags, illustrated email blasts etc. This week will be my last with the company and I thought I'd drag you along with me in my reflection. I've been here through 3 grande openings (Capo Yunk, Capo Penn & Capo Big Kitchen), 6 apartments, 3.5 boyfriends, 5 Christmases, at least 2,190 cups of LaColombe Coffee, about a dozen minor meltdowns, 2 fires, 3 second jobs & 5 strawberry seasons.

When I was originally interviewed for the position, I hadn't touched an espresso machine for years, could barely pronounce "Capogiro" & was completely alien to the Philadelphia food culture... which is (to date) my most beloved attribute of the city. (You had me at Pho, Philly.) 


For the last 6 years, I have learned more about being a well rounded, responsible, pseudo professional person than I ever imagined I could muster. I am thankful to Capogiro for that, much more & specifically the following (in no particular order);

- Dan's back massages & post-it-note illustrations [pic. right]

- Poodles with submissive issues
- Sarah's grace under fire
- John's dry humor & colorful pants
- Steph's mentoring, light mothering & high pitched frustrated voice
- My introduction of avocados
- A lifetime's worth of experiences

Before I get more sappy, I'd like to show you some of my favorite Capogiro projects and sign off. I'm leaving to focus on tattooing full time and being an all around artsy person. The leap is scary & exciting & everything I've ever wanted in life (aside from a big yard with a hammock stretched out between two avocado trees... one day...one day...) Its been an honor & a pleasure, Capogiro. I will miss the mortal crap out of you.

Big kiss, little kiss, big hug, little kiss...
K-

Walking On Impending Sunshine

"
et's go for a bike ride!" is all I can think right now. It's March! It's gorgeous! It's almost horrifying that it's already this warm! Does that mean strawberry will be in stock soon!? Stay tuned!

One of the things that makes us, ahem, THE BEST IN THE WORLD is that when you see our sorbetti, you know that they're they color they are because...well, because that's the color of the fruit, not because we're adding any food coloring to it. Mangoes are a sweet, soft yellowy orange, so the sorbetto is that color as well. Our avocado sorbetto is that awesome, bright, in-your-face green because we squeeze so much perfect, ripe avocado into it. And you can see all the kiwi seeds floating around in there because we like the way they pop in your mouth.

But I was left wondering...why are kiwi fruit (to get down to the proper name) green? And not just any particular green, but that awesome, soft, almost translucent green?



I couldn't figure it out. Chlorophyll is my best guess, but that's pretty unsatisfying. Kiwis are green because...because grass is green! And leaves are green! Because PLANTS are green! Yeah, not super enlightening. BUT! Let's get us all learned up on kiwi:

>>They're native to Southern China but these days much of the commercial crop is grown around the Mediterranean.

>>In Chinese alone, they've been called "vine pear," "sunny peach," "hairy bush fruit," and "unusual fruit."

>>If you're allergic to latex, you may well be allergic to kiwi, papaya, and pineapple as well. (Under all circumstances, be sure to tell your CapoCrew if you have the slightest inkling that you're starting in on anaphylactic shock. We're caring folk and promise that we WILL call you an ambulance if you like and WILL NOT post video of your tongue swelling to youtube. We're sympathetic.)

Kiwi: little spheres of awesome.



It's drinkin' beer outside weather!

Now back and better than ever

Granita is back! It's officially spring, kids, so that means the return of our beloved granita. First batches are sweet tea granita and orange granita. Grap a glass con panna or con gelato. Pictured above is my favorite combination, granita con MANGO SORBETTO!

That's right, mango is in the house, y'all. Crates of champagne mangoes arrived to our kitchens last week, and it's mangopolooza! This has to be one of our most popular sorbetto flavors ever, and goes great with Pistachio or Thai Coconut Milk gelato. Everyone has been super excited to see the return of this beloved fruit. Don't worry everyone we will be featuring mango for a while. It's mango madness!
"They don't have a decent piece of fruit at the supermarket. The apples are mealy, the oranges are dry... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"

- Kramer, in "The Mango", Seinfeld