Davide Destefano

Cesare, the historical kiosk on the seafront known all over the world, is the symbol of Reggio Calabria. With more that 100 years’ experience,
Cesare’s history is part of Reggio Calabria’s history and the memories of its inhabitants. Cesare is a way of being and of thinking, where quality, consistency and tradition find their highest expression in the same gelato that has delighted the palate of locals and tourists for 3 generations.
In 1918, when Reggio was rebuilt following the 1908's earthquake, a small green kiosk was built together with the new seaside. There they sold coffees and soft drinks in marble bottles. In 1940 the Destefano family took over and the turning point came with the son, Cesare. He understood the potential of gelato and deepened his knowledge and took care of the production process. This is how our Fior di Latte, Hazelnut, Coffee, Fior di Fragola and Lemon flavours were born. Few flavours but high quality; the laboratory, in fact, only had vertical batch freezers that didn’t allow for a huge number of flavours to be produced.
In 1989 Cesare passed the baton to his son Davide Destefano. He updated the lab with new machines and placed a display of 40 gelato trays. He is among the first ones to make variegato, which immediately became a big success. Davide is oriented to innovation and experimentation, and he never loses sight of quality. The secret is to interpret the classics in a modern key, making them more appealing to the palate and to the eyesight and presenting them through communication strategies. Gelato becomes a way to promote the territory with the aim of adding value to local products. Bergamotto and Annona from Reggio Calabria, Mango from Catona become the ingredients of delicious gelato flavours promoting the development of local economy. Davide is one of the organisers of Scirubetta Festival and he’s also involved in Conpait.

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