Pistachio Recall

I want to let all of you know that the pistachio recall from California does note effect Madisono's Pistachio flavor. Our ingredints are sourced from Italy and are tested. Thanks
Matt

A Whole Week

Well, if you have been reading the blog I appologize for not posting for an entire week. A long weekend spen in the country un plugged from everything but a radio was nice. No gelato shops though. The best we got was UDF ice cream. The kids went for cotton candy. Do not expect a Madisono's cotton candy gelato anytime soon. We have been busy at work here working on catching up on production. Yesterday I had a visit from Chef Owen Mass and the bartender from Chalk. We talked gelato and sampled some. Chef Owen is at Cumin preparing all of the desserts. I think there will be some oppertunity to get creative. Owen has been known to serve pop rocks as well as deconstructed anything. I have much to do today so I will keep this short.
Matt

Hills Market

I have just returned from one of the best sample days I have had in a long time. Late in October I ventured out to Columbus Ohio to meet with some unique stores in an attempt to grow my gelato business. One such place was Hills Market located on Olentangey Road just north of 270. I met with Preston, one of the managers there, and I knew this was a great place for Madisono's. The ice cream section has one of the largest selections of Ohio products I have ever seen. Throughout the entire store they had signs showing off local products. Needless to say they ordered 12 flavors on the first order!
Today I sampled several gelato and sorbet flavors for the annual Ohio Market Day. There were many vendors there sampling all kinds of products. I also had the oppertunity to share some recipes and tips on making gelato at home to a very attentive audience. Thank you all who took the time to learn today. (if you are looking for the recipes please contact me at this link and put Hills Market in the title mattmadison80@hotmail.com )
Demos are the only way I can meet customers and intoduce my products to new ones. So many people had a positive response to tasting Madisono's that I am sure we will be able to build the line. We offer many more flavors that what they stock currently. If you had a chance to sample and made a purchase, Grazie! and please tell your friends about us. I love to share a new find with friends. Madisono's is available at these Columbus locations as well. Whole Foods Dublin and Arlington Heights, Weilands, Carfanga's and Raisen Rack. I want to express my grattitude and appreciation to Hills Market for the invitation. We will be back for the Salmon Roast as well as The Wild Goose Event.
If you are new to my blog please go to madisonogelato.com for a complete list of all our customers in Cincinnati, Columbus and Louisville. See you soon.
Matt

Relationships

Madisono's has had a long standing relationship with Chef David Faulk of Boca and Nada restaurants. Much of his culinary talent have been with him since the early days when Boca was located in Northside. I used to sell to Chef David at the Northside Farmers Market. He would shop the market with his crew and go back with some of the freshest ingredients in town. I used to provide them with squash blossoms for a dish they made there. They were filled with ricotta cheese, battered and fried. Now that I am in the gelato and sorbet business I always jump at a chance of creating a real flavor for my long time customers. I have been asked to create for other chefs and I am sad to say that their enthusiasm for unique flavors wanes when it comes time to purchasing their requested flavors. In my eagerness to please I am proud to say that I have been able to dicern who is for real and who is not. We do not do this for just anyone. So.... when Chef Mitch asked me to work on a new flavor for Nada I took the challege because I know they are serious. I can not disclose what the flavor is at this time but it is very good and quite uniqe.
In the same week another great customer, Chef Chris from Prima Vista called and asked for a new flavor. Chef Chris has been a great supporter of Madisono's. When I first went to talk to him about Madisono's he was already using a gelato supplier from out of state. He said he would consider my products if I would consider making a banana caramel praline. This is paired with their bread pudding and is quite famous there. At the time I did not make such a flavor but in my desire to please I did and Chef Chris agreed to use 100% Madisono's after that. So his request for a new flavor is sincere and I know he will use it. The flavor we are making for Prima Vista is Pinoccate or pine nut. I make my own paste for this flavor and all I can say is that it is a wonderful flavor. If eats like dream. Sorry there are no plans to package this flavor into pints so if you want to try it you will have to go to Prima Vista. It is not on the menu until some time in April.
I value my relationships with my chefs and my customers. It is my hope that you, my customers, will read this and know how much your support of Madisono's is valued. If we ever leat you down please let me know.
Matt

Garnish Catering

Madisono's is proud to announce our first delivery of gelato and sorbet to Garnish Catering in Blue Ash. I have been looking forward to this for some time. Chef Kim Baretta has used our products over the last year for classes and events. Much of what they do at Garnish is to provide take out meals. The ability to compliment a dessert with Madisono's is now possible! I provided Kim a freezer with a decal on top and bottom. The pints are merchandised upright. This is my first attempt to use energy efficient freezers. They do not have glass tops or stand upright, but as long as people can see what is inside I believe it will work. If you have not ever been to Garinsh I encourage you to stop in. They are located at 9468 Kenwood Rd. Also check out their web page. Chef Kim has spent time abroad and has an impressive resume.
Matt

Art Work

This week marked one of the busiest weeks this year. Actually it maks the one of the busiest weeks this year and a good part of last year. In Februrary I made a decision to raise prices on gelato and sobet pints. The cost increase was minor to the cost increases I have seen over the last year. This is the first cost increase to my customers since the Madisono's was founded in April of 2006! I always agonize over these kinds of decisions. When I started I could buy a 50 Lbs. bag of sugar for $14.50. They now cost $22.50. That is a 55% cost increase for an ingredient that we use in large amounts. Everything from paper pints, vanilla, milk, cream and our imported ingredients from Italy have all taken huge cost increases. I still have vendors that charge fuel surcharges despite the decrease in fuel prices.

Back to being busy. We are all very excited about the increase in sales in the retail and restaurarnt part of the business. I believe in my customers and I feel that they believe in me. I have always tried to deliver the best gelato and sorbet. The repeat business affirms that in some way that what we make is good and worth a repeat purchase. I find hope in this that despite the economic crisis people are still making purchasing decisions that support a local economy. I often wonder if people are buying more Graeter's instead of Hagen Daaz or Ben and Jerry's because the local economy needs it. The linkages to my business reach Ohio dairy farmers and many other small business right here in Cincinnati.

I started out to tell you about our new artwork so here it is. Look for the Madisono's Van on the road and if you see us honk 2x

Matt

Five Star Foodies

As I continue to develop my business and my blog, I want to share other local food companies located right here in Cincinnati. I see this blog as not only your view into the Madisono's Gelato and Sorbet Company, but a window into the life of small food business. They are Five Star Foodies. They produce by hand, vegan and vegetarian foods that are sold locally and abroad. They can be found at Whole Foods and many other store in Cincinnati, Louisville, Columbus and now Washington DC. We are both frozen food producers so we have teamed up to partner on deliveries in an attempt to reduce our carbon footprints and create economies for our small businesses. We both sell to many of the same out of town store and Valerie Williams has been very helpful in providing leads for Madisono's. If you have not had thier products I suggest you go to the website for more information.
Matt

The perfect Peach

As I develop my blog I want to include some photos and videos of what we are doing at Madisono's. My wife alsways seems to have the camera at her store, Margot Madison Creative Stationery. She also has a blog. Check it out. I think she wants to keep it so she can add photos on her blog. Maybe we need another camera. In these times of economic consolidation I don't think so. Why spend $150.00 on another digital camera? I just need to remind her to bring it home. With the weather getting warmer I though I would post these photos of the peaches we used last year. They were sweet and juicey peaches from South Carolina. We processed them and then used them in our peach proseccco sorbet and peach gelato. Tty not to drool. My mouth yearns for peaches like this.

Matt

Indiana Live

Today and yesterday were spent producing gelato and sorbet for the Indiana Live! Casino in Indanapolis. They have placed another order with Madisono's and all of us at the plant are very excited about this. Joe has been doing an incredible job running the prodution while Robert tends to deliveries and inventory. We delivered to Columbus on Tuesday, Whole Foods Dublin and Whole Foods Arlington Heights. I should also mention that The Hills Market, Carfanga's, Weilands and The Raisen Rack also stock Madisono's Gelato. I will be at The Hills Market on March 21st from 12 to 2 participating in their Spring Demo Day. It is hard to believe that we are selling in Columbus. I can not wait to share more of our fine gelato and sorbet flavors with the people of Columbus. They have a great appreciation for ice cream. Check out Jeni's if you do not know about it. She does some incredible things with ice cream. I love her style. Today we delivered to Dorothy Lane Market in Springboro Ohio. I would also like to share with you my excitement about our magnetic decals for the delivery van. I will post a photo ASAP. Now everyone will know what is inside! Today also provided an oppertunity to make an old time favorite, ginger gelato for Embers. They are serving it with their pineapple upsidedown cake at the Wine Festival on Thursday. There are many cool things happening in the coming days so I will keep you informed. I was asked by Chef Henry Warman from the Savanah Center to provide our lemon thyme sorbet for the meeting of the American Culinary Federation this Sunday and Barrisis wants to use some of our flavor on the 12 chefs 12 kitchens event coming up in April. Thusday is chocolate and more chocolate
Matt

The Art of Food

I spent Saturday night in the company of friends, foodies and some of Cincinnati's best culinary talent. The Art of Food was held once again at the Carnagie Arts Center in Covington. This event showcases local artist who make unique art from food as well as local chefs and organizations. At the invitation of Chef Cristian Pietoso from Via Vite, I came ready to serve the award winning Scroppino drink. This is the signature drink at Via Vite and Nicola's. It is made with Madisono's Ruby Red Grapfruit Sorbet (made exclusively for Chef) prosecco, and grapefruit vodka. In addition to the Scroppino Chef Cristian also served sushi grade scallops with a light olive oil, onion, carrot and parsley delivery. Many people commented on the fact that the scallops were the best dish of the night. They also thought the Scroppino was excellent.
Chef Chris Burns from Jean Ro was next to us as was Chef Gregg Gimanetti and his wife Summer. Lavomatic served up some home made cracklings with rabbit and Quarter Bistro had a great short rib. One highlight of the night was meeting the host of the Midnight Gourmet show on WCIN Chef Keith Tolbert. He was featured in this weeks CitiBeat. He has a realy cool story and is working on a cooking show at WCET. It is set to go national. He interviewed many of the chefs at the event and myself. It was a good time I encourage you to look for it next year. It is a great event.
Matt

The Art of Food

Saturday night was spent in the company of friends, foodies and chefs. At the request of Chef Cristian Pietoso from Via Vite and Nicola's, I joined him at their table to help serve. They were serving sushi grade scallops with olive oil, onions, carrots and parsley. Many people said that this was the best dish at the event. We also served samples of the award winning Scrapino

Some times a picture is worth how many words?

Dorothy Lane Markets Dayton Ohio

Dorothy Lane Markets in Dayton and Springboro Ohio have been selling gelato and sorbetto under the Dorothly Lane Market label. Madisono's is the proud producer of these great produts. It even says so on the side of every pint. Calvin Mayne and the team at DLM wanted their customers to know that they were using the highest quality gelato and sorbetto avaialable and that it was made locally. At the present time Madisono's produces 11 flavors for the DLM label. We are proud to announce two more that will be available in April. They are Pistachio and Straccaitella.
The Pistachio is made with 100% all natura pistachio paste and our all natural cream gelato base. We are mixing in large pieces of pistachios for a unique taste experience.
The Staccaitella (chocolate chip) is made with our all natural gelato base and pure vanilla. We then add, by hand, our secret mix of chocolate to the frozen gelato for the perfect delivery of vanailla and chocolate. If you are in Dayton please stop in and pick up a pint of Dorothy Lane Gelato and Sorbetto.
Matt