CROWN HEIGHTS — A specialty gelato and dessert shop from Italy by way of Park Slope is planning its second Brooklyn location in Crown Heights inside a former doughnut shop on Bergen Street, owners told DNAinfo New York.
L’Albero dei Gelati, currently in business on Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street across from the J.J. Byrne Playground, is looking to open another store at 667 Classon Ave., said co-owner Monia Solighetto.
The small Bergen Street storefront off the corner of Classon Avenue previously operated as the ice-cream-and-doughnut spot Elsie’s Parlor; before that, it was Crosby Coffee, both owned by Jeremy Mustakas who still runs a doughnut stand and delivery service in the neighborhood.
Elsie’s is now closed, with paper covering its large glass windows and a sign on the door from the L’Albero team that reads “Ciao! We will open soon.”
A sign on the door of Elsie's Parlor in Crown Heights announces the new location for L’Albero dei Gelati. (Photo credit: DNAinfo/Rachel Holliday Smith)
The Park Slope location for L’Albero was the first American shop for the Italian company, started by Solighetto and her brother, both second-generation gelato makers who focus on using “heirloom, organic, fair-trade ingredients from small farmers,” according to an interview with Edible Brooklyn.
Pastries, gelato, coffee, savories and wine are on the menu at the Fifth Avenue location. It’s unclear exactly what will be served at the new Bergen Street eatery; in an email, Solighetto said only that “it will be amazing!”
L’Albero also operates an Italian “chatteria” in Williamsburg named Have & Meyer.
