“Food is our common ground, a universal experience”
our story
Before there was Via Gelato in Kaimuki, there was a truck, and before there was a truck, there was Melissa Bow, Owner, who just loved food. That’s where it all started. “I can replicate any flavor I’ve ever eaten so combine that with ice cream and that’s pretty amazing!” Having moved from New York City, back to Hawaii, the place where she grew up, missing foods in Hawaii was definitely an inspiration - a Fukuya shiso musubi, a black sesame Chinese dim sum dessert, and of course all the tropical flavors like Pirie mangos, haupia and lilikoi. These flavors of all the cultures in Hawaii became the menu of gelato and sorbetto at the Via Gelato truck and it lit a spark with local people.
“Lihing amped up with fresh locally grown herbal shiso, mango that tasted really like our local sweet and tart florally nuanced mangos, black sesame…at that time when I started, no one was making flavors based off of locally inspired foods. All the ice creams out there were very standard, typical Mainland American flavors. I figured, I personally would prefer to eat something a little closer to the heart”.
So, Via Gelato began as a food truck serving artisanal quality gelato with unique flavors inspired by local Hawaiian tastes and people came out to the side of the road and farmer’s markets in lines. One year later, Via Gelato opened a store in Kaimuki with even more flavors than the six that could fit in a truck, and a brightly-lit, family-friendly ambiance.
Each day the gelato makers make twenty-one flavors that create joy. A board in the store lets customers pin up their ideas ranging from kalbi to lemon crunch cake (another obsession dessert). Not all of the suggestions make the cut, but everyday Via Gelato makes something special that speaks to our best memories.
“Dreamers unite”
“Save the earth. It’s the only planet with chocolate”
Photo: Paper cups, a better alternative to plastic. But, consider, still made from trees, still shipped across the ocean from China using fuel to transport it here to be used and thrown away in 5 minutes. Eating in, is the best option!
You use it for a minute,
but it lasts for 1000 years . . .
what am I?
Consider this, when eating a cup of gelato it takes less than 5 minutes to finish it. Why would we put it into a plastic cup or use a plastic spoon that would never break down, but break up into pieces over a 1000 years?
Photo: Reusable ceramic cups to decrease single use wasted items
Plastic is not disposable.
Yup, that’s correct, plastic is not disposable. There’s no “away” to throw it because it doesn’t break down it breaks into pieces and if you burn it, (like we do in Hawaii) it releases carbon from the petroleum it was originally made from creating pollution really not worth it for 5 minutes of gelato. Worse, if it gets into the ocean, marine animals eat it because it smells similar to their food.
So, yeah, that’s why we use ceramic bowls, glass cups and metal spoons when you eat and drink at Via. Plus it looks and feels nicer. When you need to take out, we provide paper cups, wooden spoons and plastic cups made from corn that “biodegrade” but really consider - that cup won’t biodegrade unless it’s over 110 degrees (definitely not the temp in the ocean) and if it does melt it produces methane which is even worse for the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
Eat in whenever you can, bring your own to go coffee cup and we will fill it. We need to take care of this Earth. It’s the only planet with ice cream and chocolate.
Photo: Reusable metal spoons used for eating and sampling. We save 10,000 wooden spoons from being thrown away each week. But we have a problem; people are so accustomed to throwing away, they throw away our reusable spoons. We have to buy 100 new metal spoons each week to keep up with the throw away and theft from people stealing them.
“the Sustainability tote”
When you buy a bag…We give a bag !
Each Sustainability Tote you buy, gives a bag to another person during our educational sustainability games and programs that we do with the local community, schools and local non-profit environmental groups.
Printed with local printer Blank Canvas, and design hand drawn by Via Gelato owner, Melissa Bow, this canvas tote is big enough to carry all your groceries and your reusables. Feel awesome with your choices to “take the no-single use plastic challenge” and to help another person do the same, as well!
Interested? Click the button below to buy it online through our shop, or come on into the store! We would love to see you.
“We spend our time doing what we value most”
Artisan Handmade EVERYTHINg
Yes, we do things the inefficient way. We never buy what we serve pre-made or processed. That means yes, that fudge is made from scratch with a french handmade caramel base. Yes, that mango ribbon is made from scratch from yes, real mangoes, and yes when it’s mango season, we peel and de-seed them one by one. Yes, lychee season only happens once a year and we literally de-shell then de-seed thousands of lychee just to have enough to make one fabulous week’s worth of that flavor. Yes, we think that you can taste the difference between machine and handmade!
Sustainability
Our team uses their time to work on the things that we value most. Besides our commitment to making things by hand, we value sustainability - not using and throwing away single use items if at all possible. That means we wash A LOT of dishes! That takes time and definitely changes the dynamic at the counter from fast food disposable to a slightly slower pace because we want to not only connect with you but also do right by our Earth.
Connecting
Part of what makes a local shop so endearing is the connections we make with YOU! We take it a tad slower than “fast food”; after all, what we are serving took us literally hours to make from scratch - we want to share with you what went into it! We also love it when you taste and sample. Discovery and curiosity is what we are all about. We can’t wait to hear your questions and chat with you! Our connections with each one of you is what makes us truly special.
