Alfonso Muras is used to creating Italian cuisine from scratch, and he’s not afraid of the hard work behind it! His first restaurant Napoli Centrale Pizza Bar on King Street is renowned for its authentic, hand-made Neapolitan pizzas, and now just across the street is his latest homage to his motherland, Popolo Artisan Gelateria. 

Al has been experimenting in the kitchen and has two new offerings for gelato-lovers; gelato cakes and sticks. 

Made fresh daily, these gelato sticks give you yet another option at Popolo – cup, cone, and now stick. They are dipped in dark, milk or white single origin chocolate, then topped with either pistachio, strawberries, praline or many other types of dehydrated fruit or flower petals. 

Then there are the gelato cakes. These traditional Italian pandoro cakes are filled with hazelnut and pistachio gelato, then topped with chocolate. Mmmmmmmm.... mind blowing.

Soaked in rum and packed full of delicious gelato, these semifreddo cakes not only look spectacular but they taste just as good. Available in two classic Italian styles, pandoro and panettone, they are perfect for celebrations. It’s recommended customers pre-order to select their preferred flavour and style.

Popolo, meaning people in Italian, offers a range of delicious gelato flavours from the classics like pistachio, lemon, pink grapefruit or chocolate, through to the more adventurous flavours like buffalo milk, Oreo or Earl Grey tea! All made from scratch on site every day, the flavours are constantly changing depending on what is in season and what’s popular. There are even vegan, gluten free and dairy free flavours available.

Alfonso has always been partial to the famed, creamy gelato of his homeland and last year returned to Italy to study an intensive course at the gelato university, with gelato master Palmiro Bruschi. Palmiro has made the trip to Newcastle to oversee the opening and gelato making at Popolo, to ensure the traditional, artisanal methods from his home country are applied.

Alfonso explained,

“My vision for Popolo is to promote the Italian-style gelato using the freshest seasonal and local ingredients. Gelato is a very creative but complex science and the hardest part of the production line is getting the balance right with ingredients.

“I think there is something fascinating in the production of it, and I would like that everybody can see how we make it and what ingredients we use”. 

 So pop into Popolo for a cup or a cone, and if you’re anything like me you’ll be planning your next visit before you’ve even finished your first cone.