On the Thursday of Fall Break week, I decided to venture into downtown Memphis as if I was on vacation. I didn’t have the funds to rent a luxury hotel room, but I parked in an area where there was still free street parking (considerably south of downtown) and walked down G, E. Patterson Avenue toward the Central Station Hotel, which is also the Amtrak station in Memphis. But when I arrived, I noticed something new…a rather cryptic sign with an upside-down A topped with a scoop of ice cream.
It turned out to be Zia Matto Gelato, a Memphis-based gelateria offering locally-made delicious flavors of Italian ice cream. Gelato, unlike American ice cream, is not whipped with air, and therefore is extremely rich, though actually lower in calories than the American alternative. At Zia Matto, gelato flavors include blueberry, chocolate, coffee, hazelnut, mango, mint chocolate, pistachio, salted caramel, stracciatella, tiramisu, honey vanilla, and wild strawberry. But it was a peanut butter chocolate chip flavor that I could not resist. It was full of flavor, and like the best gelatos, smooth and cold. Zio Matto has no other direct retail locations, but it is available in a number of area retail stores, coffee bars and restaurants, as well as a number of stores in Nashville. It is definitely worth searching for, and a great refreshment for people staying at the Central Station Hotel, or arriving or departing on an Amtrak train.
Zio Matto Gelateria
545 South Main, #110
Memphis, TN 38103
(901) 529-7207