Extravagant chocolate! Italian gelato!
Kansai’s first Venchi Cioccogelateria

Maido! Shen here, reporting on a new foodie hot-spot that is absolutely to die for!
The Kansai region now has its very own Venchi Cioccogelateria.
(PS—A Cioccogelateria is a chocolate shop which also specializes in gelato)

■Kansai’s very first Venchi specializing in Chocolate & Gelato

In Osaka’s underground shopping mall, Diamor, located right next to Osaka Station and decorated in Italian themes, you’ll find this lovely landmark round plaza. And this is where you’ll find Venchi’s brand new storefront. The heavenly gelato display will stop you in your tracks and entice you into the store. At least, that’s what happened to me…

Venchi began small with the creations from one curious chocolatier some 140 years ago in Italy. And as it has grown into an international brand, they have remained true to their Italian origins bringing beauty, joy, and conviviality to customers worldwide and creating confections that can be“Experienced like in Italy”.

■Choosing from 16 flavors? Shop recommendations

So when you walk into the shop, you could get overwhelmed by the variety of flavors, but don’t worry! There is help. I’ve asked the store’s PR manager for some advice and I got some very useful information.

＞＞Get to know the Venchi basics
Chocolate×Nuts×Venchi cream

・Chocolate
Flavors like Cuor Di Cacao and Giandujotto Venezuela

・Nutty
Pistachio, hazelnut

・Creamy
Venchi cream (a rich yet light custard made with egg yolks)

＞＞Try the seasonal flavors and sorbets!
Mango & Passion fruit Stracciatella

Plentiful sorbet flavors to choose from like the fruity Mango, Raspberry, and Strawberry sorbets.

If you’re here for the chocolatey types there is the dark chocolate Cuor Di Cacao.

■Luxury in a cone! Triple scoops right before your eyes

Here’s what I ordered!
The regular triple scoop, or as they say in Italian, “Regolare”.

＞＞My selection from the menu

Size：Regolare
Cone topping：Raspberry
Flavors (from bottom to top):Cuor Di Cacao, Pistachio, Mango (¥880 including tax)

The feeling of eating 3 amazing kinds of gelato is extraordinarily luxurious. You could eat them all at once, or slowly work your way through the flavors one by one. I’m glad I got the pistachio in between my fruity mango top scoop and the chocolatey bottom layer. Colorful in appearance and well-balanced on the palate, this is a combination I could order again.

Another thing I liked about this shop was the way you can observe every step of the process. When you order your cone toppings you can watch them dip the cone under a faucet of chocolate. (I wish I had one of these for my house!) It’s so exciting to see the gelato being scooped by expert hands. I understand why people like to take pictures here for their social media feeds.

■Spread the happiness with these gift ideas

Chocolate makes the perfect gift for that special someone. Or get on everyone’s good side when you bring a chocolate gift to the office after your business trip. The individually wrapped chocolates look like little gems in their colorful foils and all the packaging is adorable.

And a little sidenote about when to visit Venchi—the shop can get fairly busy because it’s very popular. But here’s a secret, you can usually walk right in on weekday mornings and miss the crowds. They also have an app which allows you to take a number and be called when it’s your turn. This will allow you to skip waiting in a long line and spend your time as you like while you wait.

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