In Calabria, there’s a bakery that transforms into a top-notch ice cream parlour in summer

by Serena Curto 

In Calabria, in Castrovillari (CS), there is a bakery that also makes ice cream. It’s called Forno Orlando and it is one of the Calabrian bakeries featured in the Pane e Panettieri d’Italia Guide by Gambero Rosso. While in the winter months the focus is on kneading and baking loaves and sweets, as the warm season arrives, it’s time to churn gelato.

There isn’t a traditional ice cream counter on display — the refrigerated wells are in the workshop — and customers, who eagerly await this time of year, trust the process: they ask for their favourite flavours and wait for Mario Orlando to return with their tub or cup. Ice cream from a bakery might sound odd, perhaps a bit daring, but only until you taste it and chat with the two brother-owners, Mario and Massimo Orlando — curious, experimental, traditional, and always looking ahead.

Mario describes his ice cream as “natural”: “Each flavour has its own recipe, which I personally developed, trying to balance all the ingredients. Low in sugar, made with local milk from farms in the Pollino National Park, eggs, and hazelnuts, dark cocoa, pistachios, coffee. As a thickener, I use carob seed flour and guar gum in the proportion of 3 grams per litre.”

As a trained engineer, Mario is keen to explain every step of the process and how it has been standardised over time. His work — shared with his brother Massimo and their nephews — is the result of a passion passed down from their father. He was the original baker of the family, and after university, the two brothers — raised among sacks of flour — decided to continue in the same trade, investing in their homeland and channelling their skills into the art of breadmaking and pastry.

Mario handles the pastry — while Massimo takes care of the bread and other baked products (from rustic loaves, the first in the city, to focaccia, pitte, crostini and frese) — and considers himself a traditionalist in this field. Indeed, the long counter is filled with Italian pastry classics: breakfast biscuits, pantry cakes, dry and regional pastries (cannoli siciliani, pasticciotti, almond pastries), along with festive desserts and traditional Italian leavened cakes. Special mention goes to the sfogliati, creations of the new generation: croissants, pain suisse, Italian-style cornetti, ischitani, and the original Cornetto Orlando, their own invention — all, of course, accompanied by the essential brioche, perfect with gelato. In short, nothing is missing.

The ice cream here is almost a hobby, you might say — there’s no intention of competing with master gelato makers, but the talent in the art of desserts is undeniable.

But why move from baking to ice cream making, aside from the personal challenge?
“This unusual (but not so unusual) choice was, in the early 2000s, simply a market decision. Demand for cream-based desserts was falling, so we decided to offer our customers something fresh. And it worked,” explain the Orlando brothers.

“At first, we were inexperienced. We made some attempts that, though decent, didn’t completely satisfy me,” says Mario, who is in charge of the pastry section. “So I started studying, creating my own flavours — classic, but completely natural, and without any pre-made mixes. Since 2020, we’ve resumed seasonal production, which, it seems, the people of Castrovillari look forward to.”

What is the gelato at Forno Orlando like?

A few select flavours, always the classics — those most loved and which define what gelato should be: hazelnut above all, then pistachio, pale and natural in colour, almond, which immediately impresses with its aroma, and fiordilatte, light, not overly fatty, and genuinely flavoured. From this base, Mario and Massimo create stracciatella, amarena swirl, and one with caramelised figs — a new flavour inspired by the old Calabrian Scirubbetta (a granita made with fresh snow and cooked grape must syrup or fig honey).

Another standout is the almond, packed with aroma, and then their own invention: coffee cream, a nostalgic trip back in time, reminiscent of the coffee-and-milk snacks of childhood. And of course, dark chocolate gelato and zuppa inglese.

All the gelati are creamy, round on the palate, but without excessive fat or sweetness. Spoonfuls of refreshing pleasure balanced in texture and sugar.

There’s also the “Tartufo”

Mario, ever the experimenter, doesn’t stop at simple gelato. He’s even created the Tartufo di Pizza — though it might just as well be called Tartufo Orlando, to acknowledge its own distinctiveness. It differs slightly from the traditional version and features two flavours with a soft chocolate cream centre that remains creamy even at low temperatures. We tested it ourselves — cut it open and tasted it — and, as our passionate gelato maker explains, it’s the result of extensive, all-natural research (no chemicals involved) and many trials.

Just like the bread, the gelato never betrays the passion and craftsmanship that the Orlando family shares and passes down through the generations.

Forno Orlando – Castrovillari (CS) – Via Trieste 36 – 0981 26949