Hobart’s waterfront is about to get a new sweet spot, with cult gelato brand Gelato Messina opening its first Tasmanian store alongside sister bakery Shadow Baking on Saturday.
The Elizabeth Street Pier venue will be only the third combined gelateria and bakery of its kind in Australia, following stores in Marrickville in Sydney and North Adelaide.
The store will serve 40 freshly churned gelato flavours each day, including 30 regular flavours and 10 monthly specials, while Shadow Baking will offer pastries, toasties, coffee and summer drinks.
Both brands will also sell cakes to take home.
For their Tasmanian debut, the businesses have created two products featuring leatherwood honey from Miellerie, harvested in the state’s south-west wilderness.
Messina’s ‘Apple Of My Isle’ combines leatherwood honey gelato with caramelised apple and croissant crunch, while Shadow Baking has created a leatherwood honey and dark chocolate tart.
Both will be available at the Hobart store from opening day, with the tart also rolling out to other Shadow Baking stores from November 10.
“Leatherwood honey is one of Tasmania’s great treasures and we wanted our first Hobart flavours to honour some of the flavours unique to the island,” Gelato Messina and Shadow Baking executive chef Tom Mitchell said.
The store will open from 8am daily, with full gelato service starting at noon. It will close at 9.30pm from Sunday to Thursday and 10.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Store manager Jennifer Santoko said a local team had been recruited ahead of the opening.
“We’ve built a local team who are really excited to bring Messina and Shadow Baking to Tasmania,” she said.
“Whether it’s for a morning coffee and pastry or a scoop of gelato after dinner, we’re really looking forward to welcoming everyone to our new Hobart store.”
In July, Pulse reported the brand planned to open in the former Billy’s Burgers shopfront, creating about 10 jobs.
The store forms part of the broader Elizabeth Street Pier redevelopment, which includes a 98-room, $40 million Citadines hotel.
A spokesperson previously said the company had spent about five years looking for the right site in Tasmania.
