When I lived in Milan, every late afternoon I would indulge in a ball of Nocciola Gelato (hazelnut ice cream) while strolling past Il Duomo, relaxing on the grass in front of the Castello Sforzesco, or promenading down that un-affordable Via Montenapoleone. Ice cream was not a regular part of my lifestyle outside of Italy, but here it was customary, almost mandatory, and the gelato was positively divine, so forsaking it was out. 

Ever since those brief months in Italy, I have been hunting for that same Nocciola gelato taste and texture. Hazelnut being a rare ice cream flavour, however, it was difficult to find any, let alone good. I sampled some in America, however, and in a few other countries, to unsatisfactory results. Seven years later I did not expect to find it in Bulgaria. But I did.

In the summer of 2009, while wandering along the hectic Graf Ignatiev Street in Sofia, I happened upon a new venture with that alluring Gelateria in its title. Inside, I was delighted at the vast choice and sighted my treasured hazelnut, ordering a ball at once. Amazingly, it was that very same favourite of mine from Milan. A delicately creamy, and perfectly smooth gelato experience coupled with powdered hazelnuts, detectable in silky flavour but never with crunchiness and without that artificial sweetener aftertaste. I chatted with an Italian fellow, praising him on the magnificent results. He turned out to be a consultant, or perhaps sort of co-owner and explained how their gelato was made with fresh whole milk, and by Italian machines.

A recent visit brought us inside the Gelateria where, hidden from street view, is a large space with many seating options, where you can have a full patisserie experience with coffee, biscuits, pastries, desserts and cakes. Although I have never reached beyond the blissful gelato to sample any of these treats, I can assume by the overall quality at Confetti (meaning "sweets" in Italian), they are good. However I have eaten meals at Confetti, which also doubles as a bistro, offering four to six items from each section of appetisers, salads, sandwiches, pasta dishes and main meals. There is also a daily lunch special. My choice consisted of salad, vegetable ratatouille and pork chops (12 leva in total). Everything was skilfully prepared and presented. I also tasted a mixed salad with colourful greens, cherry tomatoes, grilled goat cheese, pine nuts and house dressing.

The salad was delicious, although the coarse-grain mustard dressing was overbearing in quantity, making the salad over-spicy. Therefore I suggest you ask for the dressing on the side. The waiters at Confetti are amicable enough and appear professional in their crisp black-and-white outfits, but I did note that our main dish was brought out before we had finished with our salads, leaving the meat to cool slightly. But on another occasion, after a slight misunderstanding about an order of gelato, they were happy to replace the mistaken flavour. 

Sitting inside Confetti’s fresh and clean interior is a pleasant experience in itself, because it is spacious and light and modern in a warm and inviting manner. The kitchen is in the middle of the area, with glass see-through walls on most sides, allowing you to note the attention to hygiene and order. One counter now offers sushi by Kabuki, but I find this jack-of-all-trades manner too peculiar, and it appears customers agree because it was entirely empty.

Another odd (for Bulgaria) but welcome development, is the breakfast on offer from 8am to noon. English, American, Viennese and Italian, are the choices with English offering the most, comprising mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon, sausages, eggs, and buttered toast for nine leva, while the Italian is just a cappuccino and croissant (five leva).

Summer is the classic season to visit the Gelateria when fruit is plentiful and all sorts of fresh flavours are on offer, including watermelon sorbet, strawberry gelato, raspberry and so on. However, colder seasons are delicious too, with great chocolaty and nutty flavours. Who cares if some etiquette forbids ice cream in winter? With gelato this good, all rules are off. And I just realised that Confetti is by Garibaldi Square, named after the prominent Italian figure, and the name of a Milanese metro station I often used.

Address:
4 Graf Ignatiev Str
Sofia
Tel:  988 4444
Credit Cards: yes

Open: every day,
8am to 10pm

www.confetti.bg