cremolose / downtown – san diego, ca

Cremolose is a new eatery that recently opened in the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego. They recently had a grand opening party for media and guests to sample of their new foods, desserts, and gelatos. With 40 locations throughout Europe, this is the first Cremolose location in the United States. Cremolose offers Italian savory treats as well as desserts along with 24 flavors of Italian gelato and 24 flavors of the Italian imported cremolose, a new type of gelato that is fresh-fruit based with a creamy texture of fruit, zest or nut mixture.

I took Stacey with me to try it all out. We had no idea what to expect when we got there and we greeted by an expansive restaurant with an upstairs and downstairs dining area. Many guests were milling about and trying the samples of appetizers and desserts laid out for us.

Here’s some of the offerings – one is a little pizza bread with an anchovy on top. It was soft and warm with a small bit of sauce on it. The other was an arancine, which is a fried rice ball with beef ragu and cheese. It had a light, crispy outer coating and a good flavor with the mixture of rice, meat and cheese.

The other item they had out were these little soft breads filled with meat, cheese and a bescemelle sauce. The bread was light and fluffy and the sauce made the filling really creamy and rich – this was my favorite savory item. I believe from their menu that they call these “Crostini“.

Here’s the lineup of items they had. They placed out plates of food which you could grab at your will. Stacey and I grew tired of eating the rice balls. They were very good, but got a bit filling. I much preferred the ham/cheese/saucy bread bun things much more.

When you first enter you pass by the gelato case and then you pass by this stunning array of desserts. This isn’t even the whole case – just half!

There were tons of mini little desserts in the case which I drooled over.

This is what they offered up as samples to tastes. The one with the white coating was like a cream puff filled with custard. The little pie tart was also filled with a rum and custard filling and berries on top. They also had chocolate covered cream puff which had a hazelnut filling inside of those. All so yummy!

In addition to the little desserts there was a ton of gelato to sample.

This is what happens after you’ve had a little wine with your dessert. Silly pictures ensue!

This is stracciatella gelato and prickle pear sorbet. The stacciatella is sort of like vanilla with chocolate chips, but much creamier and smoother. The chocolate is also more like shaving and blended well into the gelato. It’s very rich and creamy – one of my favorite flavors! Very simple stuff.

Stacey decided to try the prickle pear after seeing it in the case. It had a really interesting flavor – not much like anything else I’ve ever had.

I went back for seconds and got this Red Orange flavored gelato. This one was my favorite of the night. It was a really creamy gelato with the orange flavor. The “red” orange had a bit of tang along with the sweetness to give it a really lovely balance of flavors. I was stuffed by the time I had this and didn’t finish eating it, but I loved the flavor!

I believe Cremolose will be a great hit being that it’s in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter, is open late almost every night and offers a good mix of sweet and savory items.

Disclaimer: I was invited to the Grand Opening Party by BAM Communications. The food was complimentary and I was not paid. All opinions are my own.

Cremolose
840 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 233-9900

Hours:
M-T: 10AM-2AM
F-Sa: 10AM-4AM