“On warm summer nights, the violins would play as horse-drawn carriages pulled up to the fashionable ice cream parlors on Palermo’s waterfront. Elegant ladies and gentlemen, many from Sicily’s royal family, would step out and sit down to their favorite dessert of lemon ice, spumoni or cassata. Inside the kitchens, young boys – among them, Angelo Brocato – scurried about, ferrying ice and salt for the busy chefs.” This is the opening paragraph of a 1975 article from the Times-Picayune.

The story of New Orleans’ most famous ice cream shop began approximately 125 years ago. It began across an ocean in Palermo, Sicily, when 12-year old Angelo — whose father passed away when he was 3 years old — began his apprenticeship in the gelato trade to earn money for his family. He learned the gelato business, and as summer became winter and shops changed their focus, Angelo mastered candy-making and baking, as well.