Pastry chefs and gelato makers, owners of “Nano Labo” – a gelateria and artisanal bakery located in Camalò di Povegliano (TV).
What happens when a young couple of pastry chefs, in love with gelato, decide to open an ice cream shop in a small village – and within a year it becomes a go-to destination for gelato lovers, earning a prestigious award?
This is the story of Elena Gorghetto and Alessandro Tomao, both 29. They met at CAST Alimenti – Elena was a student in the Advanced Pastry Program, while Alessandro was there on a scholarship. After completing her course, Elena also took part in the scholarship program, just as Alessandro began working with master pastry chef Iginio Massari – where she would later complete her own internship.
After spending some time abroad in Norway as head pastry chefs, and following one last internship with Simone De Feo at “Capolinea” in Reggio Emilia, the couple returned to Italy to bring their own project to life: a gelateria and bakery focused entirely on the highest quality ingredients.
They chose to open Nano Labo in the small countryside town of Camalò, in the province of Treviso – close to their trusted, carefully selected local producers offering top-tier, truly zero-kilometer ingredients.
At the heart of their work is a love for experimentation. Their gelato often draws inspiration from pastry – and sometimes incorporates it directly as an ingredient. Thanks to their training, Elena and Alessandro are able to craft nearly everything in-house: from variegates to candied fruit for their panettoni. This ensures maximum freshness, transparency, and minimal waste.
Nano Labo opened in June 2022 and has already earned “2 Coni” in the 2023 Gambero Rosso Gelaterie d’Italia guide.
Why the name “Nano Labo”? It all started with a little lucky garden gnome Alessandro gave Elena… but that’s another story – one that’s already become real.
The idea of combining gelato and baked pastry came from our shared passion for both worlds. Their synergy allows us to create unique products that define the identity of Nano Labo.
INTERVIEW
Your gelateria clearly reflects your background in pastry, both in your selection of baked goods and in certain gelato flavors. How did the idea for “Nano Labo” come about?
Nano Labo was born from our desire to bring together two worlds we’re passionate about: gelato and baked pastry. Our production is rooted in the careful selection of raw ingredients, which we source from local producers with whom we build relationships based on trust and mutual support. This synergy between quality and locality allows us to create products that are both delicious and authentic.
What truly sets us apart is our background as pastry chefs: we make everything ourselves, from the gelato bases to flavoring pastes. This approach ensures a genuinely artisanal, clean-label product with minimal waste. For example, we use fruit peels from our sorbets to make candied fruit and flavoring pastes for our doughs.
Our pastry training also inspires many of our gelato creations—sometimes as an ingredient, like the amaretti we add to our violin pumpkin custard flavor, and sometimes as a concept, like our gelato inspired by Zaeto, the traditional Venetian cornmeal cookie.
Is promoting awareness and culture in your field an important part of your project?
In recent years, we’ve seen a concerning shift away from the true meaning of artisanal gelato—made from high-quality ingredients. That’s why it’s so important for us to educate people about what goes into our gelato. We’re fully transparent about the origin of our ingredients because we want to highlight their quality and value.
Sharing this knowledge helps build trust with our customers—and it keeps them coming back. We also enjoy taking time to connect with those who visit us. Even guests coming from the city can relax here and enjoy a moment of calm and pleasure.
Quality ingredients are the core strength of Nano Labo. Who is your ideal customer?
More and more people are paying attention to what they eat, and that really aligns with our vision. Since day one, Nano Labo has embraced a philosophy of “eating well, eating healthy.” Quality ingredients come at a higher cost, but it’s rewarding to see that our customers appreciate the difference—even if it means spending a little more.
What is your idea of “excellent gelato”?
It’s a simple concept, but far from easy: to make high-quality products, and to do it well. Our gelato is designed to be clean and easy to digest, made only with ingredients whose origin we know and trust. For example, by using fresh fruit—never processed, frozen, or powdered products—our fruit-based flavors stand out for their authenticity and quality.
We also focus on texture (this is where our pastry background comes in!) and the sensory experience of every bite. One example is our new flavor Il Dolomitico: we pair the wild notes of blackcurrant with a shortcrust crumble made using hemp flour—for flavor, texture, and a story in every spoonful.
Is there something you learned at CAST that you apply daily in your work?
Alessandro – Everything we learned at CAST Alimenti—as students, then as scholarship interns, and later as professionals—is part of our daily routine.
During our time as lab assistants (the scholarship role), we learned discipline, respect for raw materials, and the importance of equipment. Every day we worked alongside top-level professionals who shared their passion and expertise with us.
Beyond the long hours spent supporting classes and managing storage and workspaces, we also found time for testing, experimenting, and studying new products—something that’s hard to find elsewhere.
We’re convinced that Nano Labo wouldn’t exist in the way we envisioned and built it—just the two of us—without our CAST experience.
Since it’s just the two of you, how is your production organized, and what kind of technology do you use in the lab?
Elena – We divide the work so that one of us is in production while the other handles the front of house, and on our closed days, we work together in the lab.
Even though we both know how to do everything, generally Alessandro focuses on gelato, semifreddo, and related preparations like candied fruits and jams, while I take care of baked cakes and cookies.
We work together on dough-based products like brioches, babà, and panettoni.
Thanks to our experience in high-end pastry and gelato labs, we were able to choose equipment and storage systems that let us work with consistently high quality standards.
Future goals?
We want to keep experimenting and evolving—developing new products in collaboration with farms and producers who share our philosophy.
Our goal is to keep investing in ourselves and in Nano Labo, staying current with new ideas and techniques, while remaining faithful to our core principles: quality and respect for our local area.
Because small is beautiful—especially when you dream big.
