Il Bacio Ice Cream - The Sweet Treat for Summer

It wouldn’t be summer without burgers, hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, watermelon or ice cream.   The all-American favorites that bring back childhood memories of family barbeques and hot summer days.  Of course, ice cream probably tops the list of summer favorites for kids and adults alike. 

 My favorite ice cream shop is Il Bacio located at 30 Germantown Road in Danbury, CT.  All the ice cream is homemade with the finest ingredients and one taste will have you hooked.  Tony and Gina Nascimento have been in the business for over 23 years.  They started in 1988 with an ice cream shop on White Street in Danbury where Tony worked two jobs while simultaneously running the ice cream shop.  He realized that in order to be successful he would have to give 100% of his time and effort to the business.  He attended classes, seminars and conferences to learn more about making ice cream, which resulted in a superior product and a successful business.  Tony and Gina have been at the Germantown location for the past 9 years and now have over 400 ice cream flavors in their repertoire.  The store serves about 30 flavors daily as well as 16 flavors of homemade Italian ices too.

 As a foodie, I could tell upon my first visit to the shop that this ice cream was by far better than any I have had in a long time and certainly the best in Connecticut.  One word describes the reason for these incredible concoctions…..passion.  Tony is passionate about his ice cream business.  Using the finest ingredients like real cream, real fruit (not flavorings), Madagascar vanilla, Tony imports his chocolate from Europe.  

 He makes about 90 gallons of ice cream per day and, in addition to ice cream, they also make their own waffle cones, hot fudge, caramel, ice cream cakes, and ice cream sandwiches.  I was given the opportunity to taste a spoonful of the homemade hot fudge which has all natural ingredients like cocoa, cream and sugar.  This European cocoa has a higher percent of butterfat than U.S. cocoa.  It was unlike any other hot fudge I've ever had….smooth and rich but not overly sweet.  They serve real whipped cream on the sundaes.  No canned cream here.

 Il Bacio’s signature flavor is Cardiac Arrest and, for all the chocolate lover’s out there, this is a must-have when you go.  One taste of this creamy-rich, velvety, intense chocolate will have your taste buds jumping.  Once again, the imported chocolate was the star of the show.  

Il Bacio aims to please and they offer a good daily assortment of flavors to appeal to everyone’s taste: Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, Snickers, Oreo Cookie and Cookie Monster (another popular flavor with blue ice cream and assorted cookies mixed in).  They also have a good variety of fruit flavors such as Banana, Black Currant, Coconut, Mango, and a newer trend: Pomegranate.  Tiramisu was created 14 years ago and is still a hit as well as the Cupcake ice cream recipe which took Tony multiple tries before he perfected it.  HBO lovers will appreciate the Sopranos  flavor with (Bada?) Bing Cherries and swirls of chocolate pieces, created as a tribute when the series ended.  It was a hit, just like the show, and is still featured.

 Speaking of features, Il Bacio has been highlighted in Connecticut Magazine and The New York Times.  Foodies from Brooklyn and Queens traveled all the way to Danbury after the Times review, and I'm sure they were delighted.  It is well worth the trip. Maybe we'll see them featured on the Food Network one day.

Bravo to Tony and Gina for their passion and commitment for making such a wonderful treat.