Before I even walked through the doors, I had heard about Giapo… And truth be told, I didn’t really know what to expect. Gourmet?
Artisan? Those are word thrown around quite liberally nowadays. But for whatever reason, Giapo seemed to pop into every conversation regarding eating out in Auckland.
Finally getting there, I realized why: while technically an ice cream shop, describing it as such is like describing your smartphone as a telephone. It’s technically correct, but you miss most of what’s going on. It is neither a pastry shop nor a dessert bar, nor is it an edible art gallery, but rather something in between.
This is why I wanted to write about it. The experience was interesting, though I am not sure I will be rushing back, especially since I am still undecided about whether I like ice cream that need this much engineering.
A Fancy Ice Cream Shop
Giapo
It took me walking past the shopfront on two occasions before I finally entered it. At night, all that light and glass spills out onto the footpath and there’s just something about how it presents itself that makes you stop. It doesn’t look like your traditional ice cream parlour, which I guess is the whole idea.
When I did go in, the space wasn’t what I expected. It looked more like a boutique than anything else, clean lines, carefully arranged displays, everything very deliberate.
There was also stacks of cones under glass that looked almost like buildings on the cabinet by the counter. This cabinet held pastries and cakes that was enough to make me question whether I’d entered the wrong sort of shop altogether. There was something about everything that felt so polished and like an art gallery.
And then I stood there for a good long while, not really sure what to get, since obviously the standard “get two scoops in a waffle cone” method wasn’t going to apply here.
Then we’re into the really crazy stuff: the signature cones. There is a complex build option where the staff make them right in front of you, layer by layer. I opted for one of those.
It was a sort of dessert Jenga tower made of ice cream, meringue shards, chocolate work, fruit, sauces, edible flowers, and things I couldn’t immediately identify. On offer that day was the Colossal Squid cone, which apparently contains sea salt and squid ink. As much as I don’t think I was brave enough to try it, I have to applaud the commitment to the concept.
It was beautiful, I’ll give it that. It was also very hard to eat. The entire structure was so carefully balanced and so tall that I found myself feeling slightly anxious about it collapsing, which is a strange feeling to have towards ice cream.
The flavours was unexpected and the textures changes as I ate. It tasted good, really good, in fact. But all the time I was thinking ‘am I meant to be enjoying this or taking photos of it?’ and that’s probably not what you want to think about when you’re having dessert.
And then there were pizzas.
They serve them too! They serve real ones on a printed-out menu, not just as a novelty, with a Margherita for $16 and others available. I didn’t eat any.
However, a restaurant that serve pizza and does fancy ice cream sculpture seems like a good fit for Auckland, a town that has never realy wanted to stick to one lane. Was it worth it? I have no idea.
I left Giapo having paid more for a single serving of ice cream than I would typically pay for an entire lunch. However, the craftsmanship here is undeniable. I do think there’s something truly impressive going on here.
I also, however, miss the days of simple ice cream that’s just…ice cream. You know? If you find yourself in Auckland and want to see what happens when someone decides to completely reimagine what a scoop of anything can be, this is where you come.
You should of just maybe not wear a white shirt. Have you been anywhere that has made you rethink what a food can be? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
