The setting: a stop on the tree-lined avenue
Bar da Franco is located in a pleasant spot in Santo Stefano di Camastra, overlooking a beautiful tree-lined avenue with outdoor tables that invite you to linger. It's the kind of place where you stop for a relaxing break, perhaps after a walk or a visit to the ceramics workshops for which the area is famous.
The tasting: creamy, but where is the pistachio?
We ordered the pistachio gelato. Visually, the color is a bit bright, though without going overboard with artificial tones. In terms of consistency, the product is well-made: it is creamy, smooth, and there is nothing to complain about regarding the overall texture.
Unfortunately, however, when you bring the spoon to your mouth, the main limitation emerges. The pistachio flavor is missing: the gelato base, with its sweetness and structure, totally dominates the palate, leaving the pistachio in the background, almost non-existent. It's a real shame, because this is a gelato that, overall, isn't bad and isn't unpleasant, but it fails in its specific mission to showcase the "green gold."
The granita: a better alternative
If the gelato disappoints due to a lack of pistachio character, the granita at the same place fares better. It doesn't excel, to be clear, but at least in that case you can taste the pistachio, offering a perception of the raw ingredient that is completely missing in the gelato.
Conclusions and recommendation
The rating for the pistachio gelato is 4/10. Not because the product is bad in absolute terms—the creaminess is there and it's pleasant—but because the pistachio, which should be the star, is completely masked. The granita fares better, although it's not excellent, which we have dedicated another article to.
Bar da Franco, Santo Stefano di Camastra (ME).
