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VIRGINIA-HIGHLAND

Paolo's Gelato Italiano

Elissa Eubanks/eeubanks@ajc.com
Paolo's serves 75 flavors, including unusual blends made from carrots, avocados, violets, rosemary, prosecco and olive oil.
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Venice native Paolo Dalla Zorza has been serving real-deal Italian gelato in the Highlands for almost 10 years. Seventy-five flavors are available, including highly unusual varieties made from avocados, carrots, violets, rosemary, prosecco and olive oil. No vanilla is ever available, unless you are a dog or cat, he says.

For the classics, straciatella, a chocolate-chocolate chip made with Belgian chocolate, is the best seller. Also popular are Paolo's artistic "savories," like the "spaghetti noodles" made from zabaione topped with strawberry sauce and shaved coconut that looks like parm. Gelato can be ordered in cups, cones plain or dipped in chocolate and crushed hazelnuts, served in crepes or piped into cannoli.

• $3.50-$6.50 a cup. 1025 Virginia Ave., N.E., 404-607-0055, www.paolosgelato.com.

MARIETTA

Nucci's Italian Ice and Gelato

Before she opened her gelato shop in November 2006, owner Kyle Ranney had never heard of the stuff. But when she visited her daughter studying abroad in Italy, she was so taken by the Italian ice cream that she ate it twice a day.

Sixteen flavors are offered. She makes the gelato onsite with ingredients imported from Italy including hazelnuts, Italian chocolate and pistachio paste. For those who are calorie-averse, Ranney keeps some Splenda-sweetened flavors on hand, like the Badda Bing Badda Boom, a vanilla gelato flavored with pop rocks.

• $3-$5.50 a cup, $10 a pint, $18 a quart. 1050 E. Piedmont Road, Marietta. 770-321-0954.

PONCE-MIDTOWN

Whole Foods Market

Twelve flavors, including several dairy-free sorbets such as lime, pineapple-coconut and watermelon, make for some difficult decisions, but customer favorites are caramel crunch, a combination of Lacey's toffee cookies crumbled over caramel gelato, and affogato, a shot of espresso poured over a scoop of vanilla gelato. Banana pudding and peach, made with local Georgia peaches, are big right now, and seasonal changes to the selection have included pineapple basil and orange fig.

• $2.99-$4.49 a cup, $6.49 a pint. 650 Ponce de Leon Ave. N.E., and other locations. www.wholefoodsmarket.com.

— Lynn Peisner