Frati opened in downtown Napa September 8, 2012. Frati is a traditional Italian Cafe serving panini, Italian pastries, espresso drinks, hot soups, rustic Italian dishes, wines and assorted artisan gelato desserts
Our Gelato is made from whole milk not heavy cream. It is therefore naturally lower in fat and calories. Our Gelato ala Frutta (Sorbetti) are made without milk or cream and therefore have no fat content and less calories.
You don't have to travel far to get a taste of some authentic artisan gelato. Here in the heart of downtown Fullerton, Frate Gelato offers a flavor for every taste bud. Master gelato maker Dr. Antonio LuPriore opened the shop with his brother-in-law, Ron Dele, about two years ago. I had the chance to go to the academy in Italy. It's the only academy recognized by the Italian government for gelato making. So I decided to do that and I studied for six months going to different gelatarias and course studies, learning how to balance the recipes and make gelato in the old-fashioned way. We decided that we would try to open up spots. The place now located on Commonwealth with the Italian antique and European feel. People who just can't get enough can even take it to go. The fratty is fantastic. It's creamy and delicious and it tastes better than ice cream and it's half the calories so it's a win-win situation. So what makes gelato so different? The thing that really differentiates gelato from ice cream is that the low-fat content and the other thing is that it's a slow-turing product as if you were making at home years ago ice cream. And there's a term called overrun and that means how much air is beat into the product when it's freezing. And my product has about 20-22% it's very low amount of air. Ice cream can go to large amounts depending on the cost of the ice cream. It can go to 200-250% air so that it's very light tasting. It's cold and light. It's a completely different product. Whereas the thing about gelato usually when you put it in your mouth it's a little cold but the thing about it is you taste the flavor right away. And the coldness is nice also but because it has a low-fat you taste the chocolate, you taste the cherry, whatever ingredients that I'm putting in there you taste them first. So it makes it a little different. With all kinds of flavors to suit everyone no one gets out of here empty-handed whether it's for some coffee or a fresh panini sandwich. The good here is you can sample any flavor and so there's no, And I just So that when you're eating the gelato here in my shop it'so that would be For a frate. Come try it for yourself. You might just fall in love. Reporting for OC News, I'myra Davalos.
