Friday, February 27, 2009

New Flavors

Today we finished a few deliveries and production runs of coconut chip gelato and pistachio. We delivered the coconut chip to Nada and packed pistachio into pints for our retail customers. When that was done Joe and I had a chance to get our samples into action. We are working on developing an espresso flavored gelato. So our mission is to produce the best espresso gelato we can. We put together 4 batch runs with different formulas for each. We now get to sample these finished gelato to friends and family and get their opinion on each one. Using that data I can then continue to formulate new blends until we the right one. The fun is all of this is the sampling. At some point it would be great to have some of you be a part of this process. Would you like to? Please contact me at 772-3920. I am not at liberty to disclose all of my formulas or intentions with this new flavor as this is an open forum for all to see. I expect to continue working on this for several more weeks until we get it where we want it. And when we do......hold on to your hat!
Matt

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Samples and More Good Samples

Today is a good day at Madisono's. We have just received many new samples. We are always looking to make better gelato and sorbet, and that means sourcing the best ingredients. As the brand develops it is difficult or impossible to make changes to existing products. We have not made any changes to existing flavors, but the new flavor research has allowed me to get creative. I am able to start with or basic base and then build a flavor on that foundation. The most important element now is to do it as clean as possible. The imported ingredients come with some color additives. If I can make a new flavor without that then why not do it? We have several new flavors in development that I would love to share with my customers. When they are ready I will release them. As I seek to understand the science behind flavor and texture I find myself deconstructing and rebuilding to my own blueprint, Madisono's blueprint.
Matt

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Cincinnati Magazine Summer Issue

Here is a link to Madisono's mention in Cincinnati Magazine. Enjoy it.
Matt

Tuesday February 24th

Today Joe returned from vacation and it was nice to have him back. WOXY continues to play some great music and how fortunate are we that get to listen all day with out any interuptions. When the batch freezer and other equipment is running it can be quite loud so we just turn up the volume. Our discussion today was how web sites may not be as important as we think. Madiosono's needs a web page, that is for sure. I feel like we can get more information on a medium such as this blog than a page that needs to be updated. The problem for me is that I do not know how to do that. In the life of running a business and family there are just some items that can not be mastered. The cost of updating the page on a weekly basis does not justify the return. I may change my opinion on that but for every dollar that I spend on something like a web site I have to be able to get that back. The question is how. When we seek to sell off the web there will be an oppertunity to develop that aspect of the business and the ROI.
Matt

Monday, February 23, 2009

Indiana Live Casino

I am pleased to announce that Madisono's recieved our first PO# from Indy Live Cansino. We will be featured in 4 restaurants and the cafe. The cafe has allowed us to package bulk gelato and sorbet into 5 liter pans. This is the same way it is done in Italy. They have a 12 flavor case. I am sure it is going to look very inviting. This is a great oppertunity for Madisono's as it now allows us to penetrate the Indianapolis market for pints and other restaurants. Our first order will be delivered next week some time. We are working this week on building the initial order.
Matt

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Jean Ro Bistro

Executive Chef Chris Burns asked me to produce a smoked honey gelato. Chef Chris is smoking many ingredients in house using an alto sham smoker. Chris provided a bold honey infused with smoke. The honey is from local hives. The gelato was smooth and creamy. The honey and smoke are neck and neck in delivery. The honey is forward in flavor only in that the time it takes for the smoke to register as "is that realy smoke?" in the brain. I recal the experience in taking a drink from a coke can that has been filled with water. The intial reaction is to spit out the unknown content not recognizing the familiar taste of water. I think the unexpected taste of smoke is one that would come as a surprise. Chef Chris and I will be working together on many projects. His passion for molecular gastronomy is unique. Chef Chris is the first chef that I have met that knows what I want to do with Madisono's and can see the oppertunities to explore. I sold gelato to Jean Ro Bistro over a year ago and at that time we did not disclose our passion for this science. This may be a recent development for him. I look forward to working with Chef Chris in the future. We now have a court so let's play ball.
Matt

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Cincinnati Magazine Restaurant Issue

The Cincinnti Magazine Restaurant Edition is out and Madisono's is proud to announce that 6 of the top 10 serve Madisono's!
They are in order of rank.
1. Orchids at Palm Court: Chef Todd Kelly. Spiced Chai and Lemon Basil available on the room ervice menu. New flavors will be added durring the year.
2. Nicola's: Chef Cristian Pietoso serves Dark Chocolate Orange, Zabione, Apricot, Mocha Chip, French Vanill, Passion Fruit Sorbet, Red Ruby Grapefruit Sorbet (made only for Chef Cristian) and Hazelnut Gelato.
3. Boca: Chef David Faulk serves Mocha Chip, Passion Fruit Sorbet, Hazelnut, Red Raspberry Sorbet and Pink Grapefruit Sorbet
4. Via Vite: Chef Cristian Pietoso serves Dark Chocolate, Ruby Red Grapefruit, French Vanilla, Lemon Sobet, and Mocha Chip
6. Nectar: Chef Julie Francis serves Dark Chocolate Orange
7. Cumin: Chef Yajan serves Pear Cardamom Sorbet and Pink Grapefruit Sorbet with Lavender. Chef Yajan wants to work with Madisono's to develop some custom flavors for the restaurant that will be nothing less than inspiring.
Via Vite and Nicolas make a great drink called a Sccrapino (sp?) and Boca make a mean grapefruit martini.
Matt

Madisono's Gelato is Blogging!



Welcome to the official Madisono's Gelato Blogsite! This is where we will update you on current accounts and what we are doing! Subscribe and visit often!! It has been almost a year since my good friend Lisa Hazen (lisahazendesign.com) put together a rough draft for the Madisono's web page. It is still in the rough draft stage a year later. I hope to have some content for that soon. The biggest barrier is time. I have decided to enter into the world of bloging with the help of Margot Madison (margotmadisonstationery.com) to keep you updated on new locations, tastings and other developments within Madisono's. I hope to hear from you. What do you like about Madisono's? What don't you like about Madisono's? Please feel free to share your experience. Your input will be part of the wind that sails this ship. Every day Robert and Joe, my two employees, have a great time listening to WOXY or Radio Paradise via the internet. One of the best parts about my job is that we all get to listen to music all the time! WGUC is great as well as WNKU. The Friday all request is unbeatable. We are always talking about ideas or marketing plans. How can we make Madisono's the best? What should we put on the T-shirts? Now we can hear from you. I love making gelato and sorbet. It has been almost three years and I still wake up ealy to get to work because I love it so much. Welcome and spead the word and eat pick up a pint of Madisono's .
Matt