New Kid on the Block!

Good Afternoon Gelato aficionados and Fans,

My name is Rance Loftsgard and I wanted to take a few moments to introduce my self as the new General Manager of 20th Street Capogiro. After  several years split between managing restaurants to traveling the world doing international relief and development I am excited and proud to have found my way to Capogiro!
I initially moved to Philly from the Midwest to open a coffee shop and a non-profit with some friends, and after realizing that we made better friends than business partners we parted ways. I however found my self  addicted to the weird, eccentric amalgamation of cultures, subcultures and amazing culinary and foodie scenes that comprise our beloved Philly and decided to stick around.

Intro's aside I am truly excited to join the Capogiro team and look forward to serving the best gelato in the world to the the best customers around.  Winter is upon us as will been exciting new flavors, my favorite so far has been the Pera ConWild Turkey Burbon. Feel free to stop by, say hi and checkout whats new at 20th street!

Ordering In Italiano!!

At Capogiro, we run our shop like traditional Italian bar.  In Italy, a bar is not a place to get drunk, but a kind of snack shop that serves coffee, espresso, cappuccino, rolls and pastries, sandwiches, and often gelato and other sweets.

Colazione is the Italian term for breakfast.  Cappuccino’s are an Italian favorite and in Italy, it is rare that a cappuccino is ordered after breakfast.  Espresso is the preferred drink after breakfast.  So how do you order a cappuccino for colazione?

Dica (you say):

“Vorrei un cappuccino per favore!”            or        “Un cappuccino per favore!”

Pranzo is the Italian term for lunch.  Pranzare is an Italian verb that means to have lunch or to dine.  Lunch is a big deal in Italy.  It is typically for shops to actually close for lunch and reopen after.  Like Capogiro, many Italian bars have freshly made sandwiches that customers are able to order out of the case.   So how do you order a sandwich?

Dica:

“Prendo un panino per favore!”     or        “Vorrei questo panino!”

Cena is the Italian term for dinner and cenare is the verb that means to have dinner.  Dinner is considered the main meal in Italy, so you wouldn’t go to a bar like you would for lunch.  Dinners are usually sit down family events or outings to ristoranti (restaurants).

It is not uncommon to mangiare gelato (to eat gelato) at any time throughout the day.  It is typical to get more than one flavor, which is why all of our sizes (piccolo, medio, e grande) offer customers a combination!  So how do you order gelato?

Dica:

“Prendo un piccolo/medio/grande gelato con (insert flavor name) e (another flavor name.)

I am a barista a 13^th Street Capogiro and I speak Italian, so if you want to come in and try out some Italian phrases I would be more than happy to converse with you or teach a few more phrases.  To any speakers out there that are more fluent than I am (and there are many) I always love to learn! 

-Tori

Raspberry and Spodee wine jam swirled into our fior di latte gelato. This is all I have to add. Happy weekend!!

Dear meteorologists: Fired. You're all fired.

Look, this doesn't actually have as much to do with my desire for mountains of snow as you might think. I mean, I DO want mountains of snow, and I'm fairly confident I'll get my wish this winter. (Ducks the various objects thrown his way.)

But between the complete fizzle that was HURRPACOLYPSE SANDY and this stupid little snigglet of a "storm" last night, the local weatherfolk have pretty well compromised whatever predictive credibility that they might have had. "Sandy! Fire, foe, calamity! She shall be the ruin of us all! The Schuykill will be in our living rooms! We won't be able to sleep in our beds because our beds will be full of displaced varmints and blown-over trees! Be afraid! BE VERY AFRAID!!!" and so on and so forth.

(Listen, this is just a goofy little blog post. I've got friends in New York City and my mom lives in Cape May, so I'm REALLY aware that Sandy caused very real heartache and loss, and there are plenty of folk that will need help for a long time to recover. Consider donating to the Red Cross, and our friends at Tattooed Mom's on South Street are hosting what's sure to be a LIVELY fundraiser and auction this Sunday. You should come by! Drink beer for a cause! You may well even run into some of your favorite CapoBosses.)

And then this little thing last night...whatever that was. "Five inches of snow!" they said! "It's gonna be a...thing! Freezing rain and ice pellets and probably frozen muskrats falling from the sky!!!" And what did we get? Cold, unpleasant drizzle and a wee little wind. It's not that I'm kvetching because I enjoy gnarly weather (ducks again). The meteorologists work themselves into a frazzled, over-zealous tizzy and the city can't do anything else but take preventative measures--which they well should, to keep everyone safe. But then when the weather's actually supposed to hit...you forecasters can't figure out that there'll be a layer of dry, warmer air that's going to seriously mitigate the effects of the storm? Didn't see that coming, huh? Strong work, chaps.

Anyway. The food! We're now making a RIPPIN' good new gelato pairing our Fior di Latte and a Spodee Wine and raspberry jam. S'prrrrreeettty good! Sweet and fruity and a little boozy. Our Fior is so versatile! Y'all get that it really is the foundation of all of our gelato, right? It's really the heart of what we do, and we're definitely proud of it.

So! Next time you see a meteorologist with his hair on fire, take it with a grain of salt. (Metaphorically. If you see ANYONE--not just a meteorologist--with their hair on fire, do the neighborly thing and help them put it out. It's sort of a thing. Humanity and all that.) But keep your boots handy. I'm guessing that one of these days they're going to totally undersell a storm and THAT'S the one that's going to pummel us.

S'cold out! Soup's on, c'mon in and see us.

So Long, Farewell

On this epic post-election Wednesday, it seems trivial to post a blog about moving away. To leave a city you've grown to love and friends that you'll have in your heart forever. I know that after a night of moving speeches and countless victory addresses, my thank you to Philadelphia and to Capogiro may seem a meager one, but I mean it with the utmost humility and sincerity.

This is my last week as the General Manager of Capogiro 20th Street. Next week I will be moving back to Richmond to work with some amazing people in a new venture and to pursue graduate school. I know I will be returning to Virginia a different, stronger, more educated and aware person because of my years in Philadelphia. I know I will treat my customers with greater patience and tenderness because of my time with Capogiro.

To our loyal Capo regulars, thank you. Thank you to the sticky-handed children with giant scuro grins, to the well-dressed lawyers who live on Pellegrino. Thanks to the med students who keep us company late into the night. Thank you to the throngs of weekend gelato fans who drive from almost everywhere to come and have our world-famous deliciousness. Thank you to Mario and Enzo, for showing me just how much espresso Italians can actually drink throughout the day. Thanks to the first-daters who come in for awkward conversation and late-night pastry. Thank you to the Village Whiskey drinkers, who never cease to amuse us. Thank you to the samplers, the aficionados, the ones who care about local ingredients and artisanal know-how. I salute you.

To my coworkers, thank you. You are truly the greatest group of people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. You are my family, my dysfunctional, weirdo relatives. I will miss you most. Thank you for the hard work, for the laughs, for listening to me, for caring. Thank you for your dedication to me and to this company. You are amazing. Ryan, you are the best, most reliable person to work with ever, and I wish you the world. Sarah, you have taught me so much through your dedication, perseverance, and ethos. I am honored to call you my friend.

John and Stephanie, thank you so much for this experience. I know you will have continued growth and success in everything you put your minds to. What an amazing place you have created.



Later, dudes!

Changing seasons, Changing hours

For those of you who weren’t with us last season, you might not be aware that we change our hours after daylight savings.  So be sure to note that we close one hour earlier everyday (Sunday – Thursday at 10:30, and Friday and Saturday at Midnight).

Apologies to all who missed our blog last week, although chances are you didn’t have power to read it anyway.  Everyone at Capogiro sincerely hopes that you made it through the hurricane okay!  We closed early last week during the storm and re-opened at Noon on Tuesday.  After opening the store last Tuesday, I had doubts that Capo would see a lot of customers but to my surprise the store was quite busy!  It seems even a hurricane can’t quell the thirst our customers have for La Colombe's awesome coffee.  Even in the cold and still rainy weather people were coming in for gelato.  All day I was swapping storm stories with Capo’s regulars as well as our lovely visiting customers.  It seems Philadelphia was quite lucky compared to our neighbors in New Jersey, New York, and Bucks County.  Capogiro sends all of you good energy and hope for a fast recovery!

Anyway, Capo is running at full capacity and even though the air has a wintery bite to it, we’re still serving our fall flavors.  These next few weeks will be the last chances to taste some of these flavors so make sure you come in and bid a proper adieu before they are traded in for our winter fare!   They are just as tasty and unique as the fall ones.  You can look forward to blood orange and pomegranate as well as a ton of other winter favorites.  We’ve had cranberry apple sorbetto all week and I have to admit that I am addicted to it already (it reminds Sean of his mom's homemade apple sauce!)  We hope to see you soon J

Capo Happenings

Hey all! Wanted to say real quick, if anyone is listening from the NYC area, that WE LOVE YOU AND ARE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR FACES!! And other parts, but. Ya know. Grubstreet posted this super awesome ditty today about things you can do to help restaurants get back on their feet - the devastation felt by all up and down the East Coast corridor has my empathy in high gear. We've been up to some pretty fun things lately, though - my favorite project in a long time has been gelato for the University of the Sciences - here's a picture of chocolate covered crickets before they met their fate in marshmallow gelato.

We're also about to debut our gelato made with Spodee wine. We cooked up a silly good jam made with raspberries (HOW ARE WE STILL GETTING RASPBERRIES IN NOVEMBER!? I ASK YOU!? Crazy weather. Grumble.) and are going to spin it with mascarpone gelato. Look for it at Penn on Friday! Tomorrow! We're also having a ton of fun with Spodee cocktails at the bar - if you haven't had it yet, really...probably about time you left the house more. Just sayin. Also, on the horizon, CAPOGIRO IS ALMOST TEN YEARS OLD!!! This December marks a very important birthday for us, and we're so thrilled to share it with you guys. Any flavors you'd like brought back to mark the occasion?? Let us know. So lots of love from this end of the woods. Stay dry, stay safe, and keep your heads up.

So long, Sandy!

Well, we all survived Hurricane Sandy here in Philadelphia, and are wishing the best for our friends in New York and New Jersey in this soggy, dark time. We closed a little bit early on Monday but were back on Tuesday to sling gelato and pull espresso shots for the brave souls who ventured out into the fray, and were actually nice and busy last night. Thanks for coming out of your houses, Philly!

What got me watching the coverage leading up to and during the storm were all of the crazy Photoshopped pics people were creating to make the storm seem like the end was nigh for NYC. One Twitter user even cheated and just posted a photo from The Day After Tomorrow, with the Statue of Liberty engulfed in torrential waves. Although I do have to admit, this shark swimming through the waters off of the East River is pretty freakin' cool..

Weather's comin' Ma! Better bring in the cows!

So it looks like we're maybe in for a good solid blow late this weekend and into next week. Exciting! We're hardcore at Capogiro. Tough as postal carriers. We all have little plaques in the back of our cafes that say, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these baristi from the swift completion of your awesome cappuccino with a wicked little laurel." Or something along those lines. I'll have to check and get back to you. 

But really! You should plan ahead a bit. Stash a few pints of scuro and pumpkin gelato away in your freezer so you know that when the power goes out, you can say to yourself honestly, "Self, we simply HAVE to get down on this entire pint of gelato RIGHT NOW, else it will melt and we will be sad that this frozen awesomeness went to waste." It's totally justifiable.

Of course, the reality is that we live in a major metropolitan environment (you. Look at you! SO metropolitan!). Toss on your boots and go for a walk! I love walking around in gnarly weather. You have gotten yourself some legit boots by now, right? I mean, I know last winter was kind of a fizzle, but boots. They're for sure a must-have.

Else how are you going to troop yourself and a friend or seven to our store? And why WOULDN'T you? Come in the morning and congratulate yourself with some oatmeal. Hearty revitalization, that! And of course my most-advocated lunch for troopers such as you--soup and a strong beer! Good for the constitution. Just don't have so many strong beers that you decide Walnut Street would make for a pretty good impromptu slip-n-slide. I can't condone that. 

So embrace the weather and go for an urban hike! Assuming it arrives, of course. We all know how much those friendly, over-zealous meteorologists like to rile us up with threats of impending doom. Every now and again, though...they sure do nail it. Remind me sometime to tell you about the thundersnow in Seattle. Thundersnow! In SEATTLE! But rest assured that we'll be here for you. 'Cuz we're tough. 

It Actually Is Easy, Being Green

 New favorite flavor - Green Tea Gelato. It's amazing, it's stupendous! It's the best of East meets West. Subtle yet savory, Green Tea is my new official top pick. We haven't seen it around Rittenhouse for a while, but a customer requested it a few weeks ago and it's back by popular demand. Come in this week and try some, you won't be sorry.

In other green news, Stephanie's recipe for Cream of Broccoli soup is out of this world. It also just hit the stores, and it's going quick. Served with a sprinkle of shredded cheddar and a nice hunk of Metropolitan bread, it's the perfect precursor to a cup of gelato. Get here now before I eat it all. Sorry, vegetarians, it's not for you. We do offer plenty of other veg soups, like today's Beluga Lentil or our amazing Pumpkin with Coconut and Ginger. Yes.