Coppe of banana, cioccolato, and caffe
After many visits, we finally wrote up a review…and it’s with Alex from Sunday Diners. Check it out.
The Missing Link
Downtown Stamford has bars, Italian spots, Chinese spots, burger spots, and McDonald’s, but I don’t think Stamfordites realized what was missing until Volta showed up. Downtown Stamford has always needed a nice, chill, hip spot for people to sit, relax, and surf on the net while eating. Downtown Stamford has needed a change for a while, and Volta will bring it with its crepes, salads, drinks, gelato and great service. Here’s the skinny (well, maybe slightly plump) on Volta and all they have to offer.
A Tour of Volta
Doesn’t that just call out, “summer”?
To start, it’s amazing to see how packed Volta was before it was even technically opened. We stopped by on two of their soft opening days and the dining room was packed as was the outdoor seating. It seemed though, that the energetic and knowledgable staff moved things along nicely. Giovanni, one of the owners of Capriccio Café, took us on a tour of his baby. First stop: Laboratorio del Gelato. Seriously, that’s the name of the room. Packages of fresh fruit are waiting there to be transformed into gelato and sorbet. All the equipment was imported from Italy and you can see the pride on Giovanni’s face as he talks about how their gelato is made. Fresh ingredients, made right, made the Italian way, made right at Volta!
Only a small section of their gelato choices
He showed us his gelato, 20 flavors in all, served the old-fashioned Italian way: rather than scoop it up, they take two spatulas and form the scoops. Volta is all about doing things right and staying true to Italian roots. We felt like we were back in Italy for a few hours, roaming the streets of Rome-no pun intended, but certainly hilarious of course.
Gelato Paradise
First of all, just like Italy’s gelato shops, here you pay first, then you select your gelato. Don’t be the dummy to mess things up, listen to our advice. Give ’em your order, paesanos: piccola ($4); media ($5.50); grande ($7); or a Coppe Speciali. Step over to the gelato counter and drop your jaw in awe of the beauty of what is set before you. They also have Coppe Speciali (special cups) that look sinfully good such as Coppa Romana: gelato al fior di latte, hot chocolate, whipped creamed, and biscotto. Well, we’ve been naughty and have come here two nights in a row so we’ve had 6 of their flavors. Let’s give you a sampling of what they have:
Some of the amazing Coppe Speciali
What We Tried
Raspberry sorbet and gianduia in background at Volta
Cioccolato: Holy chocolate batman, dark, strong, and so damn good
Gianduia: A light chocolate flavor with great hints of hazelnut
Coconut: Fresh coconut taste with flakes mixed in, delicious.
Banana: Tasted like smashed up bananas in creamy goodness. Wow.
Caffe: Good and medium flavored coffee taste, would get again
Raspberry sorbert: Bright, summery flavors, seeds mixed in for a fresh taste.
What We STILL Hafta Try!
Stracciatella, Hazelnut, Bacio, Vanilla, Strawberry, Pistachio, Chocolate Mint, Biscotto, Nutella, Cream Caramel, Nocciola
Sorbets: lemon, orange,
Holy Creperia!
Serving up classic Illy espresso!
Yes, Volta’s not just about gelato, they have sweet and savory crepes, salads, desserts, waffles, fresh squeezed juice, drinks, and that cool Italian cafe experience. There’s free wi-fi and it’s just oh so chill. We haven’t had a chance to try their food yet, but we’ll be sure to write up a post for our Omnomivores so you get the downlow on this new Stamford hotspot. As for the Noms, if we based it solely on gelato, we’d give it a 4.5, but until we try their other goodies, we’ll have to hold off. Ciao, buona notte.
Noms: 3.7
Cost: $$
Volta Gelateria Creperia Address: 30 Spring Street Stamford, CT 06901 Phone: 203-883-8841 Website: http://volta.us/
OmNomCT 
Volta Gelato is also in the cool and trendy new gelato spot “Piccolo Gelato Bar & Cafe” in Ridgefield. Check it out! They’re partners with Volta in making the gelato and it definitely added greatness to the Ridgefield Community.
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Really? That’s awesome. We don’t get to Ridgefield enough, but we’ve got to! :) Where’s Piccolo exactly? What else you like in Ridgefield?
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I think they are overpriced and the sizes are too small. When you eat in they serve it with a melon ball scooper which makes the gelato melt faster. I actually like the gelato place in the mall better.
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I think you’re right that the gelato is expensive, but it’s also handmade and uses good ingredients. I don’t know how the mall makes theirs, though. :) I’ve never seen them use the melon ball scoopers. When we went (maybe it’s changed), they used these kind of spatulas to form scoops. Giovanni told us the name for the spatulas in Italian, but it was too long and we couldn’t find the word. What’s the name of the shop in the mall? We’ve never tried that place yet.
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Here is the one in the mall http://www.shopstamfordtowncenter.com/directory/gusnova_gelato
had coconut yesterday and every bite had lots of pieces of coconut in it. Whole foods has really good gelato too and you know they use the best ingredients.
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Cool…will check it out. We have had some killer gelato in Barcelona during our trip.
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