IF one has watched too many Italian movies or those set in the streets of Italy, one can notice the locals’ love for basking in the outdoors especially when the weather is good.

They seem to love indulging in conversations paired with dishes in generous portions as well as dessert and coffee in cafés or in their backyard for hours on end, surrounded by trees, basking in the simple pleasures of life.

Giving Cebuanos the chance to enjoy food (particularly dessert) the way the Italians do is a recently opened ice cream shop called Giardino Gelato, a Davao-born store offering gelato and Italian roast coffee set in a garden.

It offers more than 20 flavors made fresh. Its flavors available include Dark Cherry, Matcha, Mascarpone, Milo Dinosaur, Cookie Monster, Pistachio, Cotton Candy, Ube and Choco Brownie Fudge, to name a few, served either in a cone or a cup in three different sizes. Apart from its gelato, check out its coffee choices like espresso, macchiato, mochachino and affogato (gelato drowned in espresso).

Giardino in Italian means garden and that’s what the place evokes from its manicured shrubbery and other touches of green enveloping its interiors, overall staying true to the concept of it feeling like the backyard of a house; in this setting the house is the commissary. If lucky, one can catch a glimpse of its team in the midst of making gelato.

Giardino Gelato is located on the Upper Ground Level, Seaview Wing, SM Seaside City Cebu.