Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Healthy Hardware Hangout?

There’s something new goin’ on behind two of the oldest windows in town.

I’m in deepest Gaslamp.

Standing outside where American Apparel was (for, what? Three years?) and before that, San Diego Hardware (for, can you believe, 90 years?) and before that, Woolworth’s (from 1910-22).

Those original 1910 curved windows are still there, but just going in behind them: a chocolate volcano tower, a long rack of rosy-red gelato display cabinets, hot cabinets for, like, pastries, Italian ready-dishes like hot lasagna, and at the end, a total traditional beehive-shaped pizza oven.

The name? Cremalose (840 Fifth Avenue).

Uh, say again?

“Cremalose,” says John Russo. He’s working on finishing touches inside. “Basically, a gelateria. We will have 48 different flavors. Twenty-four standards, and then 24 ‘cremalose’ flavors. These are where you have more cream, more fruit. They’re actually good for you. We went back to Italy to check this all out. This is exactly how they do it.”

Gelato cabinets

So what is this, an ice cream joint, a serious eating outfit?

Another tourist trap?

“No way,” says Russo. “We want to be here for everybody. We’re trying to create a café like in Italy. Places like this are the center of social life over there. You can come and just buy a coffee and sit all day writing your novel. Or buy a slice of pizza. Or a glass of wine. Maybe six, seven dollars. Or have a bigger meal.”

John Russo with son, Michael, and pizza oven

Sounds refreshing, specially for the Gaslamp.

And, got to admit, the writing the novel part would go well on the big sidewalk patio they’re working on, or upstairs way at the back, a mezzanine that’s strewn with sofas and comfortable lounge seating. Probably the women's hats and men's tie section back in 1912. Funny to think the life these walls (and the original tin ceiling panels) have seen.

Whatever, prepare your iPads! This could be the next Literati Lounge, spawning ground for tomorrow's coffee-sippin' J. K. Rowling!

I'll be back when they're open (Russo reckons late Jan-early Feb). Check out Tin Fork thenabouts.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule

There’s something new goin’ on behind two of the oldest windows in town.

I’m in deepest Gaslamp.

Standing outside where American Apparel was (for, what? Three years?) and before that, San Diego Hardware (for, can you believe, 90 years?) and before that, Woolworth’s (from 1910-22).

Those original 1910 curved windows are still there, but just going in behind them: a chocolate volcano tower, a long rack of rosy-red gelato display cabinets, hot cabinets for, like, pastries, Italian ready-dishes like hot lasagna, and at the end, a total traditional beehive-shaped pizza oven.

The name? Cremalose (840 Fifth Avenue).

Uh, say again?

“Cremalose,” says John Russo. He’s working on finishing touches inside. “Basically, a gelateria. We will have 48 different flavors. Twenty-four standards, and then 24 ‘cremalose’ flavors. These are where you have more cream, more fruit. They’re actually good for you. We went back to Italy to check this all out. This is exactly how they do it.”

Gelato cabinets

So what is this, an ice cream joint, a serious eating outfit?

Another tourist trap?

“No way,” says Russo. “We want to be here for everybody. We’re trying to create a café like in Italy. Places like this are the center of social life over there. You can come and just buy a coffee and sit all day writing your novel. Or buy a slice of pizza. Or a glass of wine. Maybe six, seven dollars. Or have a bigger meal.”

John Russo with son, Michael, and pizza oven

Sounds refreshing, specially for the Gaslamp.

And, got to admit, the writing the novel part would go well on the big sidewalk patio they’re working on, or upstairs way at the back, a mezzanine that’s strewn with sofas and comfortable lounge seating. Probably the women's hats and men's tie section back in 1912. Funny to think the life these walls (and the original tin ceiling panels) have seen.

Whatever, prepare your iPads! This could be the next Literati Lounge, spawning ground for tomorrow's coffee-sippin' J. K. Rowling!

I'll be back when they're open (Russo reckons late Jan-early Feb). Check out Tin Fork thenabouts.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Instant Pizzas? Bullseye!

Next Article

Bull's Eye, Caffé Calabria

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.