Big idea churns into Il Piccolo – Eat Drink West

MOST people wouldn’t think to open a gelato shop in Ballarat, but Anthony Ransome did just that and has a successful business to show for it.

Having opened its doors just four years ago, Il Piccolo has quickly become the city’s top gelato spot for both residents and tourists.

When he first moved to Ballarat almost a decade ago, Mr Ransome said there wasn’t much here in terms of a food and dining scene.

“I thought Ballarat needs a gelato place and all of my friends said no, it won’t work,” he said.

“But I knew, if I did it right it would work.

“Now, we’ve been open for over four years, 363 days a year and we love it.”

While working as a tour guide in Italy, Mr Ransome learnt extensively about the native culture, language and food and naturally fell in love with the gelato.

After returning to Australia and owning a restaurant in Sydney, Mr Ransome said he moved to Ballarat with his wife.

“Initially, I didn’t know what to do,” he said.

“Once I had the idea for a gelato shop, I went back to Italy and spent a month learning how to make it, proper authentic gelato.

“Then, we opened up in the middle of winter and we just slowly crept up and have been going really well ever since.”

Il Piccolo’s gelato selection and specialty cakes are all completely hand made by Mr Ransome and the team on the premises.

In a conscious effort to use quality ingredients, he said most of their suppliers are either local, small businesses or from Italy.

“What I learnt in Italy is that it’s important to use fresh ingredients, which is one of the main differences between ice cream and gelato,” he said.

“We make it all fresh every day, I’m a baker and a chef so I’m accustomed to working with food and knowing what goes with what and the importance of making the product by hand.

“There’s no artificial colourings so what you see is what you get, so we have to be very seasonal with our flavours, like right now we’ve got blood orange and mangoes are just coming around in season.”

With over 250 flavours now in his repertoire, Mr Ransome has spent a considerable amount of time perfecting his craft and listening to feedback over the last few years to offer the best product and service possible.

While there’s no one secret ingredient to his success, he said it all comes down to the consistent and high quality product he

continues produce and sell to his customers.

“You can be sure that it’s always consistent and always fresh,” he said.

“It’s also the service and the quality of what we sell because when you taste it, you know that it tastes far superior than a typical ice cream.

“Ballarat is known for being cold but I took the step and it’s paid off because we’ve had four fantastic years and there’s more to come.”