Madisono's is getting a new look!

Here is Gina doing some photography of our products at Via Vite restaurant.

We are so excited to be working with some of Cincinnati's most talented creatives as we update our look and get some long awaited photography of our products. Gina Weathersby of KiwiStreet Studios and 513{eats} is doing some incredible photography of our gelato, sorbets, Mad*Pops and Tartufos. Lisa Ballard has been incredible helping us develop our marketing and branding materials and lending her illustrations to our campaign. And Eric Hintz (with sound guy Zach Mueller) who are creating a promotional video for us.

Here is Eric shooting video of gelato production.

If you're an Instagram fan, follow our handle at MadisonosGelato or #madisonos to see the progress.

Madisono's frozen treats available at Findlay Market!

You know you can always pick up a pint of Madiono's Gelato and Sorbet at Madison's Market at Findlay Market in Over-The-Rhine, Cincinnati. But NOW you can get your pints to take home AND eat some Madisono's treats while you're shopping.

Starting this weekend, our Madisono's Gelato Cart will be offering cups of your favorite flavors of gelato and sorbet, Mad*Pops with bright fruity flavors, and our newest addition, the Madisono's Tartufo. Stop by today if you're out and about, and keep looking for the cart to pop up at your favorite events around Cincinnati.

One Night Twelve Kitchens

Here is a lovely lady enjoying a mini Tartufo at Madisono's table.

Here is Jean Robert deCavel and team prepping his dish.

Madisono's was pleased to participate in the sold out One Night Twelve Kitchens fundraiser this past Sunday, April 21, 2013. One Night Twelve Kitchens is the largest fundraiser for student scholarships at Midwest Culinary Institute. This is our third year joining in with more than 20 of Cincinnati's top restaurants that treats guests to an incredible dinner along with tours of the 12 test kitchens at the Midwest Culinary Institute, to watch their dinner being prepared.

We offered a miniature version of our newest frozen creation, the Madisono's Tartufo. What is a Tartufo, you ask? Our tartufos are Madisono's gelato, covered with melt-in-your-mouth chocolate and a chocolate ganache center. We've been working on these for some time, and I would not be lying to say that we are super excited to get these into your hands. They are delicious!

The typical Madisono's Tartufo is about the size of a cupcake, but since we thought it unfair to tempt guests into filling up before dinner, these are a miniature version. Here are a few pictures showing the process.

Those are frozen balls of caramello gelato, getting ready to be dressed in chocolate. *Hand modeling by Noah.

Here are the finished tartufos, with chocolate and brûléed (note correct accents!) sugar.

For several years I have been exploring the various malted beverage drinks offered by many different companies through out the world.  Jungle Jim's is a great source for these drinks and so are small ethnic markets.  These drinks are basically the wort used in making beer without the fermentation process.  In Germany it is often referred to as Kinderbier or Malzbier.  You might have seen the Goya Malta or India Malta, have you ever tried them?  I have to say that you either like it or you don't.  Remember the first time you tried Guiness?  
      This Spring we have introduced a new flavor to the line up and it is called Vanilla Malt.  My first step was to visit Cincinnati's premier beer supply shop, Listermann Brewing Company.  When you open the door your nose is treated to one of the most beautiful sweet aromas of yeast, malt and home brew.  There is a tasting station in the front room and around the corner there is a room filled with everything you need to make great beer and wine.  I used to home brew back in the day and seeing all of the hardware took me back to the good ole days of exploding bottles and strong beer that most everyone thought was crap.  We started off with a selection of different malt extracts and went back to the shop to begin the science.  We ran a few batches and I have to admit that we were all very pleased with each one.  There is a deep malt profile to the finished gelato that we had never tasted before.  Powdered malt will never achieve the complex flavors from the real stuff.  The extract is so thick it is hard to pour.  Imagine cold molasses.  We settled on a combination of the extracts for our recipe (sorry it's a secret) and began producing them into pints.  We are using our Madagascar vanilla gelato base which is made from scratch, with whole vanilla beans and a vat pasteurizer.  We process in ten quart batches each time for the ultimate small batch taste.   Vanilla Malt is available at the following stores.
Remke Bigg's Hyde Park
Carl's Deli Hyde Park
Ferrari's Little Italy  Madeira
Madison's Findlay Market
McCracken Market Miami University
Wyoming Meats
Luigi's Old World Market Mason
Keegan's Seafood Anderson
Jungle Jim's Eastgate

Mayberry and Madisono's Gelato!

Madisono's is always so happy to be a part of Cincinnati's great restaurants. Mayberry is one of our newest accounts located among the urban architecture at 1211 Main Street downtown. It's got a super relaxed atmosphere with high beautiful dark wooden beams mixed into the urban interior. We had the cobb salad, which adheres to our family's credo that everything tastes better with a fried egg on it. True, true! The fish tacos were also excellent with the fresh tomato and topped with spicy chile lime crema. But of course, you are reading this because you like dessert, right? Then save room for the pudding with apple caramel sauce and Madisono's Madagascar Vanilla gelato. And get your dining friend to try the mulled wine poached pear rolled in gingerbread with some Madisono's Cinnamon Gelato.

Madisono's Candy Cane Gelato

Madisono's Candy Cane Gelato his is a crowd pleasing flavor for the holiday season. We start with our classic madagascar vanilla gelato base and add candy canes to give the peppermint flavor profile. We use the hand pulled red and white candy canes from Minges Wholesale Candy, located right here in Cincinnati. We prefer the hand-pulled canes to the machine manufactured ones because the airiness of the candy gives a nice crispy crunch to the texture.

Want to try a scoop with a nice cup of hot chocolate? Or add it to the side of a rich, dark chocolate cake for a festive and easy dessert.

Nothing's fishy about the success of Anchor OTR

One of the newest additions to the developing over the rhine quarter district, Anchor OTR is a hip seafood restaurant at 1401 Race Street. The restaurant opened with such an overwhelming success that they actually ran out of food! Now that's saying something.

I was excited to see what the buzz was about so I visited on a Saturday night with my wife. They do not take reservations so we went early (also because we consider ourselves to be old and must return before the hipster kids take over and make us feel even older). The exterior and interior walls are textured and colored with burnt cedar facings, the space has an orderly and comfortable feel with brown paper insets and oyster crackers on the tables. Their belief that "uncomplicated is better" is felt as well as seen. The service was excellent and the menu was full of delicious choices. We eventually resolved to try the cockles and hush puppies for appetizers, then had the calamari and lemon salad to share. Our main courses were divine; my wife had the scallops and risotto and I had the X. The only difficulty was choosing between the ice cream sundae or the seasonal crisp for dessert. Both included our Madisono's Madagascar Vanilla Gelato, so we were stumped. In the end, the blueberry crisp won out and we were in homebaked heaven.