It seems like openings in Liberty Village come up more often than weeds in the summertime. The trendy, west-end neighbourhood is chock full of new eateries and local favourites and quickly becoming a hotspot for the city’s top food spots, from Kinton Ramen to Aloette. The latest Toronto chain to join the frenzy is Nani’s Gelato, which recently opened its doors to the Liberty Village crowd. Read on to find out more about the opening and what to expect.
About Nani’s Gelato
The gelato shop‘s story begins in 2018, when founder Parry attended the University of Wisconsin’s Ice Cream Short Course, beginning his frozen dessert journey. He then went on to receive local training in gelato production and, finally, trained alongside an Italian artisanal gelato maker in the U.S.A. The following year, in 2019, he opened Nani’s Gelato, which was originally a food truck in the Toronto area. Following overwhelming success, he opened his first brick-and-mortar location at 6 Charles Street East in 2020. A Mississauga location followed a year later.
The newest location, in Liberty Village, is located at 120 Lynn Williams Street, Unit 2B. The spot is nestled across from the Metro grocery store and beside the Panago Pizza. Inside the Nani’s Gelato, guests can expect the same sweetness the city has come to expect from the other locations: scoops of authentic Italian gelato as well as nostalgic Asian flavours, all of which are made with artisanal methods in-house. The flavours rotate, depending on seasonal availability of ingredients, and are likely changed out roughly every two weeks. The gelato can be purchased in both scoops and in pints stored in the freezers that dot the Nani’s Gelato walls.
A core value at Nani’s Gelato is charitable contribution, and the gelato shop hosts a monthly initiative to raise money for local causes. Previous benefactors of the funds have included organizations like Stray 2 Play, the Distress Centres of Greater Toronto and Seva Food Bank, among others. Last year, the company’s efforts raised over $21,000 for charity.