The Gelatist in Sandy Springs serves house-made, Italian-style gelato.
At The Gelatist in Sandy Springs, Reza Momin and his cousins Saif Momin and Shahbaz Momin are channeling Rome by way of Atlanta, with Italian-style gelato, imported equipment and a pink-and-white shop steps from City Hall. The 36-seat space, located next to Breadwinner, features neon signs, arched cityscape details and a nod to the brand’s location near the Trevi Fountain. For Momin, a Sandy Springs resident and former Dairy Queen manager, the family-run shop is the first step in what he hopes will become a larger Georgia footprint.
Founded in Italy in 2013, The Gelatist has recently expanded to the Southeast. The Momins own the Atlanta shop outright and brought in two Italian team members to train the staff, a step meant to preserve the brand’s Rome-born approach. Whenever possible, ingredients are sourced from Italy, reinforcing the shop’s focus on authenticity from the machinery to the flavors.
So far, Momin says, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. “People are amazed by the quality,” he says. “They say they’ve never had this kind of gelato in the U.S. An Italian customer came in last week, and he was impressed, too.”
Momin shares how The Gelatist came together, what makes gelato different and the unexpected family tradition that connects his story back to Rome.
How did you get involved in this business?
We went to the Greenville, S.C., location and liked the quality and vibe. We thought Sandy Springs needed Italian gelato. The concept is “From Rome to ATL.” Everything needed to make our gelato comes from Italy: the ingredients, the gelato display and the machinery. It can’t get more authentic than that.
What makes The Gelatist different from ice cream shops around the city?
Ice cream is colder than gelato. When you eat ice cream, it makes your mouth cold. When you eat gelato, you taste the flavor more because it’s warmer and denser. Ice cream has more air, more fat, more cream and more preservatives. Our gelato is made with all-natural ingredients like cacao, chocolate, milk and cream. We also make crepes and pastries in house and offer Italian coffee. We have tres leches cake, key lime pie, cake jars, macarons, cannoli, brownies and three flavors of tiramisu.
What are the most popular flavors?
We have about 50 flavors that rotate, with 28 on display at a time. There’s pistachio, wild berry, pineapple-mint-ginger, mango and strawberry. I make specials like Dubai Chocolate on the weekends. We also have gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy-free flavors. The dairyfree ones are water-based instead of milk-based.
What’s a typical day for you?
I usually get to the shop around 11:30 a.m., and it takes about six to seven hours to create those flavors. I help customers and do some work in the store, too. We have the bases and recipes from Italy. A machine pressurizes the milk, then cools it down. The gelato comes out; we decorate it and serve it to customers. Making gelato is new for me, so I’m enjoying every bit of it, including being able to experiment with different flavors. I usually leave there about an hour after the shop closes, around 11 p.m.
What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?
My family has a history of collecting ancient coins. We have a huge collection in India of about 25,000 coins.
PHOTO: Joann Vitelli
