TFN Talks with Ettore Chiodini
This week TFN Talks caught up with Chef Ettore Chiodini, founder of Ettore Gelato, to find out the secrets behind Bali’s best tasting Italian treat and how this young gastronomy aficionado has managed to transform the local dessert scene with his sweet creations.
Ettore, can you tell us about where you were born, what the atmosphere was like and how your childhood shaped your creative and entrepreneurial journey?
I was born in Magenta, a tiny city in the countryside of Milan, Italy. Childhood over there for me has been great. I have always been surrounded by friends and family. My grandparents, especially when my parents were working, were taking care of me and my brother. I still have vivid memories of all the food they cooked for us and we bottled the wine in-house. Also when my grandfather from my dad’s side, who’s been a farmer all his life, put me on the tractor to work together in the fields for a classic summer day in Italy. My family owns also a typical Milan food restaurant back home, since 20 years. There is where I spent also a lot of time; where I learned how to work, responsibility, and where I tasted so much great food of my land and Italian traditions. This strong connection between the land and the food that comes out of it, inspired my choice to study Science of Agriculture at University, and evoked the passion of studying and transforming incredible products that I had available, into a more complex product that I would also turn into a business and create my own future out of it. After years of following this path, I saw myself and my future connected to one product specifically: Gelato.
Do you remember the first time you had ever tried gelato and what memories/emotions does this evoke?
I don’t recall the exact first time I had a gelato, probably because I was so young. Gelato is something that has very deep roots in Italian culture and lifestyle that it’s likely you will have one as soon as you are ready to eat from a spoon as a child, while on the same bench outside the gelateria your grandparents are having the thousandth gelato of their life. This is to say that, gelato makes people so happy in that moment, that it does not really matter if your age, both young and old will enjoy. The sweet emotions that you feel are evoked each time you eat gelato.
Was opening Ettore Gelato in Bali a dream long in coming, or was there a specific set of circumstances that came together which birthed the idea?
Having my own gelato company in Bali, yes it’s definitely a dream come true. How it happened was quite random! I came to Bali on holiday from Australia, where I was living at the time in 2018. I spent three weeks backpacking and traveling around. The last day of my trip, I was on the beach in Berawa watching what I thought was a last sunset in Bali, when a person approached me asking to borrow a lighter. We started to chat; I told him about my travel in Bali and my profession with background in gelato, and he tells me about his business that he manages already for a few years in Bali. At one point, It came from me very naturally to asked him if he would be ever interested to partner together for a new gelato business in Bali. He seemed to be very interested, and the rest is history.
When they ask me, why did you choose Bali? I answer that it feels Bali chose me.
What sets Ettore Gelato apart from its competition?
I think that in every business related to a product, the personality and the experience of the people behind it, makes the difference. I think also that competition is good because it pushes you to do better every day rather that sit and stop researching. Ettore Gelato brings my name because I am the artist behind the product in this case. My studies, history, the palate and experience I gained growing up in a restaurant for long time, and the meticulous time I decided to spend on the technical understanding of gelato, allows me create and combine flavors and recipes from scratch. When you have an Ettore Gelato, you are actually tasting what that specific gelato flavor should be according to me. This is something very personal. In other words, Ettore Gelato reflects a gelato which originates from my personal expression and values. Quality of the ingredients is a must for me, not exchangeable with the cost of it. I stand behind Ettore Gelato with my expertise, brain and heart. Unlike every business, mine is set apart in that you have the artisan chef that put his head and face behind the product.
How did you come up with the flavor profiles for Ettore Gelato?
All the flavor profiles either come from the traditional Italian ones that I am familiar with from my upbringing in Italy, some are from other very good Italian Chefs I tried all over Italy and possibly revisited them, and many are new recipes I make using creativity. First, I combine different fruits, spices or zest in my mind to give a unique flavor to gelato. I really love to mix the sensation of sour, sweet, crunchy , creamy, saltiness, or toasty in a way that evokes emotions with every spoon or bite.
Do you plan on expanding Ettore Gelato to other markets?
Indonesia is a country hungry for gelato, and it is becoming lately a new trend that people really like. My focus at the moment is in Bali, although I am always keen to open doors for other markets.
Ettore, you are also a Sommelier. Can you tell us more about what a sommelier is for those of our readers who are not familiar with the term? And tell us a little more about your work in this field.
A Sommelier is a figure with the knowledge of the wines from all over the world that most of the time works in fine dining restaurants or prestige ones, where one can explain and pair the food with the wines for the clients. Different foods go well a particular wine, and the sommelier suggests the best ones in particular for that dish. About myself, I grew up in a family where my dad is a wine lover, and my mum is a sommelier, and with our family having a restaurants, it allowed me to have the best wines (mostly Italians) at any time ready in the cellar. We talked wine all my life, and I became a wine lover at a young age. For me, that is of most pleasure in life. I studied agriculture, learning about many plants and the grapevine too. I decided at some point around the age of 24 years old to take the coursework in order to deepen my knowledge and allow myself to work also in this field. I had the opportunity to talk a lot about wines in my restaurant first, during the years of my work there, and also working in a fine dining restaurant in Brisbane few years ago, where I learned a lot more about French, Australian wines and from other parts of the world. In general, you can study on the paper a lot, but becoming a sommelier or a wine expert, comes way more easy if you are a great wine lover and drinker. And I am.
How has having access to premium local ingredients revolutionized the way Ettore Gelato is made?
The Km 0* philosophy and the use of ingredients of the land where you are, have always been fundamental points when managing my business. We support local businesses in this way too and their economy. It’s also priority to add value to the product, linking it to the soil and the ground where it comes from. Especially here in Bali, I am lucky for the availability of some very nice products such as strawberries, mangos, and passion fruits and also chocolate and vanilla beans from trees that naturally grow here, coming from Kintamani and Bedugul Area. We also have access to high quality milk from grass-fed cows in Malang area, in the mountains of Java. The quality of the ingredients is already half of the result for the final product, especially with gelato as the flavor is very determined by the ingredients used, and it makes all the difference in the world for the final product.
*The term ‘km 0’, devised by the Slow Food movement as a commitment to the consumption of local ingredients in view of the fast-food chains that have proliferated all over the world for years, is no longer considered a term that is exclusive to gastronomy. It on the motto “Think locally, act globally'“.
Ettore Gelato is partnered with some of the top gastronomy spots in Bali. was this difficult to achieve or was it and organic process?
Honestly it wasn’t that hard because I presented myself as the Owner and Chef of the company, and I always kept the relationship that way. Between Chefs, we discuss and talk about how to make our product better and more creative. That’s why it was easy to make connection on very special gastronomic gelatos that we made in collaboration with famous Chefs. We wanted to offer a completely different palate experience to clients, where gelato becomes also a starter, is savory, paired with a main, or has very uncommon flavors matching inside.
What challenges and/or obstacles have you had to overcome in order to create your brand and how did you manage to overcome them?
To start my first company in a foreign country has been definitely a challenge. Especially the first year where I had to face a different culture, different people and especially a different language. At times it has been very hard and frustrating, but little by little I managed to purchase first equipment, and begin to sell gelatos around Canggu area. At the beginning, I was doing everything by myself, until I got the first guy to help me in the lab. I spent a lot of time there, during the night also, to refine all my recipes; then on the bike, visiting restaurants to propose my gelato. After many kms and rain, I managed to have my first clients. I always worked on the quality of what I was doing, and started to create a brand around it. At some point it came natural to call this brand with my name, make it work around it, thanks also to the beautiful people around me, that helped and still helps me to establish it today. Even in the hardest moments, I always found the motivation inside myself to continue, and reminded myself to be patient in the work that I believe in and others will recognize, and thus be able to create a bright future ahead.
As a Fearless Nomad, what are some of the most incredible places you have visited on this planet?
I travelled a bit around the world. Australia has been an amazing and a life-changing experience. I saw some incredible places, sunsets and unique colors of landscapes. Tasmania is a place that impressed me by its beauty and wilderness. Indonesian Islands, Thailand and Cambodia are also very fascinating to me with amazing diving opportunities, corals and white sand beaches, very nice people and good food. The most extraordinary place for me are the Dolomites in Italy; a place where I used to go with my family on holiday when I was a kid. I still go now whenever I can to when I can to see these unbelievable mountains and to relive unique emotions.
What are your plans for the future of Ettore Gelato?
For the near future of Ettore Gelato, I want to establish my brand first in Bali, with the opening of my first shop in Pererenan, and eventually another one next year. Then I can see Ettore Gelato moving forwards to other cities outside Bali, and maybe who knows one day, outside of Indonesia.
‘TFN Talks’ In Partnership with Tropical Nomad Coworking Space