Truffle In-Clusive – Spatolata Gelateria: a story of inclusiveness, tenacity and creativity in the heart of Emilia Romagna

La Spatolata Gelateria is the first company to enter the Truffle In-Clusive project, born from an idea of the owners Filippo and Nicole, passionate about cooking and with the desire to create and offer something made with their hands but, above all, with a great mission: to be able to make a contribution to the community through an activity that can allow children with disabilities to have a space to create, express themselves and put their resources to use.

We interviewed Filippo, owner of the business and Matteo, part of the Spatolata staff who created, together with others, the ice cream with T&C truffle oil.

Filippo, can you tell us how this business of yours was born? Is ice cream linked to moments of play, leisure, life in the open air, light-heartedness? You are very young and already have your own business, which is very rare for young people today.
What were the obstacles? What would you advise young people who love food to do to get to where you have already arrived? The Spatolata ice cream shop was born from an idea that Nicole and I have cultivated over the last two years. We are both passionate about cooking and the idea of having our own restaurant has always fascinated us. It gives us great satisfaction to be able to offer a product made with our own hands directly to the end consumer and see people’s reaction when they taste our ice cream for the first time and are pleasantly surprised by the intense flavor that distinguishes our tastes. We are new in this sector, however one piece of advice we would like to say to young people who want to invest in food is to focus on the quality of the raw materials because we believe it always pays off, especially in such a competitive and high-level sector as this one. of food in Italy. There can be many obstacles in opening a new business and they can sometimes be demotivating, but it is important to believe in yourself and your ideas especially in times of difficulty. We believe that tenacity and ideas are fundamental ingredients for achieving your goals.

We know that you had an experience in California and that’s where you met Nicole. You are a couple at work and in life, how do you divide the tasks? Are you complementary? What are the underlying reasons that made you decide to undertake this adventure?
Nicole and I met in 2018 when we were both living in Los Angeles. On that occasion we participated in an adaptive surfing event, Nicole as a volunteer and me as a disabled athlete. Destiny brought us together and we have never been separated since. I would say that we are quite complementary, Nicole has a creative mind and is very patient, while I am perhaps more pragmatic and certainly have less patience than her, a quality that I envy her. In the ice cream shop I mainly follow the laboratory and the production of ice cream while Nicole mainly follows the sales area. We make all important decisions relating to the ice cream shop together just as we do in our private lives.

Was the T&C truffle In-clusive project interesting? Can you tell us how and with whom you worked to arrive at truffle ice cream? Which products have you tried?
We feel happy and lucky to participate in the T&C truffle-in-clusive project which particularly attracted us especially for its social implications. We worked with Monica De Bellis and Lidia Marchetti of T&C tartufi who we thank for the opportunity. This project gave us the opportunity to experiment with new recipes based on the highest quality truffle products such as truffle cream, truffle almonds and truffle honey. Finally, we used a white truffle-flavoured olive oil-based condiment to make a truffle-flavoured Parmigiano Reggiano ice cream. We wanted to combine a typical product of the Emilian area such as Parmigiano Reggiano with truffle oil from T&C tartufi and it was surprising to find how successful this combination was. We first had friends and relatives try this new flavor and finally our customers and we are very satisfied with the result obtained.

Can you tell us how you came to hire fragile people in your ice cream shop? What is their contribution?
T&C Tartufi has decided to start this project by choosing clubs, bars and restaurants where vulnerable people work. Yours is a perfect example of overcoming limits through work and passion. I have been disabled since I was paralyzed at the age of 17 following a car accident. Nicole has a degree in recreational therapy from