Right before bath time last night, I called up fellow Super-Mom Denice to follow up on a consulting work meeting. And she says to me, “Word on the street is that La Divina has opened.”
!!!
‘nuf said! We packed up the kids and drove the 20-or-so blocks to the Garden District, where friends Katrina and Carmello had quietly opened their beautiful, much anticipated, gelateria for the evening. Walking up to the door, we spotted a familiar bright orange hat (favors from Ana’s party — same ones we wore to MG parades) and came up to find their son, 4-year old artistic genius Nicco, munching away on a panini.
“Wanna panini?” he asked us between bites. We explained we were in for the gelato. His favorite flavor? “STRAWBERRY” he said with huge eyes.
Although the Nicco endorsement was hard to pass up, being me, I had to try something new. (Katrina and Carmello brought delicious strawberry gelato to our Abeona Krewe Ball, so I’d tried it before.) I went for the Stracciatella, which is Italian buttercream with pieces of chocolate inside. Paul and Will went for variations of chocolate. It’s sort of like the best chocolate chip ice cream you’ve ever had, except better. Denice and family were there, too, so Will had a great time playing with classmates while we parents hung out.
The restaurant itself is beautiful. An adorable bright white house on Magazine Street, a few steps from other fun Garden District eateries and shops. Inside, a kids table holds tinker toys around brightly colored kid-sized chairs — all in fun, retro shapes. Two are in the shape of animals that the kids can sit on! The “adult” sized tables and chairs share the throwback theme. The space is open, clean, and very friendly. Paul told me that La Divina holds a special permit as the only ice cream/gelateria in the city who is authorized to make all of their products from scratch on-site. The tastes are full, rich, and creamy — without question, divine.
Locals: check out La Divina! They’ll have their Grand Opening sometime in the next month — we’ll announce it when we know!!
Violet | 28-Feb-07 at 9:05 am | Permalink
We are SO GOING HERE when I get into town next week!
Shokufeh | 28-Feb-07 at 9:46 am | Permalink
Ah, you beat me to blogging about this. We happened upon the shop Monday night, a few hours after they first opened, and all of us thoroughly enjoyed it – the grownups for the flavor, MrMan for the toys. I loved my honey sesame goat milk gelato (whatever the name of it was).
Holly | 28-Feb-07 at 10:42 am | Permalink
Shokufeh — your knowledge and coverage of this city is practically omniscient! We should make a family date at La Divina.
Julie | 28-Feb-07 at 6:08 pm | Permalink
As if I needed another reason to come down and visit. Gelato = julie / julie = gelato. I wish I could hop on a plane right now! xoxo j
Plastic Mile | 03-Mar-07 at 1:08 am | Permalink
Is gelato the new chocolate? Did I miss that memo? Whenever I’m with a lady friend and we pass by a gelato shop, I get whiplash from being yanked in that direction. Damn.