Sweet Nothings Adds Gelato to Menu

Donna Puzella has been wanting to sell gelato for quite some time.

The co-owner of Sweet Nothings, born and raised right here in Summit, said she often travels to Italy and has wanted to bring the authentic Italian gelato home to Summit for many years.

"I'm a huge fan of gelato," Puzella said. "Chocolates and candy are great. But we're so much more than that. I'm always looking to grow and expand. Gelato is a logical next step. It's different."

And Puzella and her sister Elisa Brooks finally got to bring their dream to life when they began selling pint-sized and single serve-sized gelatos.

They chose an authentic Italian brand, Gelato Giuliana, which rose above the brands they sampled.

"We really liked the consistency and flavors," she said. "And we liked that they are Italian. If they were born and raised in Italy they must know what they're doing. They brought a little piece of Italy to New Jersey."

Gelato differs from traditional ice cream in that instead of using cream, it is made with milk. This fact makes gelato much less fattening than American ice cream and gives it a more intense flavor because the milk doesn't coat your taste buds like cream does. Vanilla Gelato Giuliana has 190 calories, 6 grams of fat and 10 milligrams of cholesterol while Haagan Dazs has 253 calories and 17 grams of fat, Coldstone has 229 calories and 14 grams of fat and Baskin Robbins has 230 calories and 12 gram of fat.

Also, Puzella said regular ice cream is made with air but gelato is not. This gives gelato the silky smoth texture it is known for.

"It's just a nice twist on ice cream," Puzella said."It made sense for us. It's a good fit for my store and for the town."

Sweet Nothings is offering chocolate, vanilla, mixed berry and lemon in single serve for $2.75 and strawberry, raspberry, coconut and mango in $6 pints. However they are also taking customer feedback on additional flavors customers would like to see the store carry.

Puzella said she would like to do tastings soon to help announce the addition of gelato and create more of an experience for downtown shoppers.

With affordable prices and innovative packaging, Puzella said customers never know what to expect from the downtown staple. While Puzella and her sister have owned it for the past five years, Sweet Nothings has been in Summit for more than 30 years.

"We want to keep the people guessing," she said.