The legendary Italian gelato shop that has just opened its first UK outpost in London

During summer in London, there’s one thing on everyone’s mind: how to stay cool. Where air-con fails, there’s no better way to ward off the heat than a good old-fashioned ice cream. Lucky for Londoners, a brand new gelateria has just opened up in the capital.

Don Nino is a popular ice cream chain in Rome and Florence, and now it’s made its way to the UK. The store popped up on Paddington Square in early July, and has been serving proper Italian gelato to the capital since.

The café is the brainchild of Francesco Mastroianni, a man so good at making ice cream he’s won multiple awards for it and been dubbed ‘Gelato Ambassador of the World’ by his fans. Clearly, he knows what he’s doing. Each of Don Nino’s 24 flavours has been carefully crafted by Francesco and his team, covering everything you might want from chocolate to lemon to pistachio.

If ice cream isn’t your thing, fear not. Francesco is also an expert patisserie chef, so Don Nino is also stocked up with authentic cannoli and pastries. Some are savoury – filled with meat or cheese – and others are sweet treats like brioches and macarons. There’s also the eponymous Don Nino bite, a nutty, chocolatey delight. Getting hungry yet?

The manager of the London shop, Benito Megna, has expressed his excitement about the opening, saying: ‘We’re thrilled to introduce Londoners to our authentic Italian gelato and freshly baked pastries and Sicilian cannoli in our first UK store.

‘We look forward to sharing la dolce vita with our customers - the best way to enjoy summer in London is with a Don Nino gelato.’

Being right outside Paddington station the café is very easy to get to, so you’ve got no excuse not to go and try some gelato goodness the next time we get a sunny day. Buon appetito!

Don Nino 1 Paddington Sq, W2 1DL.

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