The much loved Frugii gelato and sorbet can now be found at the Frugii Dessert Laboratory on Lonsdale Street in Braddon. It opened its doors today in the brand new Ori apartment building (other Lonsdale Street Traders shops such as Moxom and Whitney and Handsomepretty are also open there). For those unfamiliar with Frugii, no products are made with artificial colouring or flavouring. John Marshall, or Mr Frugii, concocts some truly amazing flavours – truffle, smokey bacon, salted butter caramel, beer and more. I usually have my fix at the Bus Depot Markets. However, the Frugii cart can also be found at the Handmade Markets and other locations around Canberra.
Back to the Dessert Laboratory – It is a fitting name for Mr Frugii with a passion for chemistry and 15 years of research and testing of gelato under his belt. The Canberra Times reports that the laboratory itself will be added to the shop at a later stage where plated desserts and Heston Blumenthal-style creations will be on offer – liquid nitrogen and carbon dioxide coming our way soon!
The fit out inside is simple, white and clean keeping a lab feel to the store. There are a couple of communal tables and seats along the window to enjoy your tasty treats but most people walk in and out happily licking a scoop of the day’s gelato flavours.
At this stage, the Dessert Laboratory is offering cakes, verrines (trifle-like desserts), ice creams on a stick, a selection of Frugii gelati and sorbets, and coffee.
There were four desserts left (apart from the gelati) when I reached the laboratory after work. I’d missed out on one verrine which had sold out earlier in the day.
So I chose the chocolate verrine ($6) with layers of chocolate mousse, chocolate crumble, chocolate waffle balls, caramel, black tea and passionfruit mousse at the bottom.
A pretty dessert that tasted just as good! It’s not too big either so you can pick more desserts if you wish 😉
Then there was a little choux pastry filled with custard and a lemon, lime and bitter squeezy tube on top ($6). Squeeze the contents to inject the pastry with extra flavour. I really liked this. The added lemon, lime and bitter flavour is a winner and also fun. Who says you can’t play with your food?
Next was an olive oil (?) sponge cake of white chocolate, raspberry jelly and champagne cream ($6). I couldn’t get a better shot of the layers sorry. I couldn’t really taste the white chocolate but it was balanced by the tartness in the jelly. Not my favourite dessert but I like the idea.
There were eight flavours of gelato and sorbet that day – blood orange, vanilla, chocolate, cookies and cream, lemon myrtle and salted caramel were those that I could remember. I tried out the cookies and cream gelato ($5) which comes in the usual Frugii plastic tub.
My friend really wanted the coconut sorbet which only came in a medium sized tub (about $12) and got that.
One thing I couldn’t help noticing is that staff (Mr Frugii, his wife and son in particular) are happy and chat freely to customers. They also allow people to take photos in the store 🙂 Customer feedback is important to the team who are continually learning in the ice cream making business. See HerCanberra article for an interview with Mr Frugii who states his salted butter caramel is a hit and the biggest trend at the moment.
I was surprised that prices were relatively cheap. $6 for a dessert is a bargain. I cannot wait for work to begin on the laboratory so I can test out Frugii’s molecular gastronomical concoctions. Much excitement!
Check out Frugii’s Facebook or Twitter for regular updates. Frugii Dessert Laboratory is open Wednesday to Sunday from 12pm to 11pm. Great for that late night sweet fix. It’s located on 28-30 Lonsdale Street (closer to Girrahween Street). Note you need to actually walk INTO the building as the lab is not visible from the street.
Get your Frugii on!
Foodgasm 7.5/10
Price 9/10
Service 10/10
FPJ Score 26.5/30
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