The North American Bracket of the Gelato World Tour is coming to Austin’s Republic Square Park Friday, May 9 through Sunday, May 11. During the three-day event, 16 gelato makers from different parts of North America will showcase 16 unique, handcrafted gelato flavors. One finalist will be chosen to advance the world finals this September in Rimini, Italy. One of Austin’s own, Matthew Lee of Tèo Gelateria, has been selected to compete in the North American finals. He will be presenting his flavor “Nuts”, which swirls peanut butter with chocolate hazelnut.
Matthew Lee of Tèo Gelateria
“‘Nuts’ was actually one of the first flavors we came up with when we opened eleven years ago, which is a testament to how much people love it,” Lee said. “We only use all-natural peanut butter without any hydrogenated fats, and then we swirl in the Nutella to add the chocolate hazelnut flavor.”
Photo by Jake Holt Photography
Tèo Gelateria has created over 500 recipes and is constantly looking for new flavors to incorporate and create in-store. Lee is excited to represent Austin and meet other gelato artisans, taste their flavors and share their passion for gelato. “[I] hope all of our local fans will come out and vote for Teo,” Lee said. “We would love to compete in the finals in Italy and bring the ‘World’s Best Gelato’ title to Austin.”
Photo by Gabby Phi
Admission to the event is free, but spectators can purchase the $10 “The Gelato Ticket” and receive five tastings—two cups and three mini-cones or spoons—of any of the 16 flavors. The flavors include classics like pistachio and more exotic offerings like bananas foster and carmastachio (caramel, marscapone and salted pistachio). Ticket holders can also vote for their favorite flavors. The top three flavors, judged by a voting system that is weighed 50% by public vote and 50% by jury, will advance to the finale.