Meet Alessandro Restelli and Alejandra Unger of Ecco un Poco in Beverly Grove

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alessandro Restelli and Alejandra Unger.

Ecco un Poco was born not only as a business plan but as a way for us to be together. Our relationship was long distance for years after meeting in Buenos Aires in 2012, we knew we wanted to create a future together and we wanted to do something that made both of us happy.

While Alejandra has a culinary background being that she studied culinary arts, worked on several restaurants over the years as pastry chef, Alessandro came from a completely different background but wanted to create something that’ll make him happy. We used to joke with the question “Where will you be happy working everyday?” and the answer for us was “In a Gelateria!”

We both planned Ecco un Poco for years, studying gelato, locations, concepts and what-not, but the true training came from a Gelato Master in Florence. Vetulio Bondi is a great-well known gelato master, not only in Italy but also over the world, he let us stayed in his kitchen in Florence and taught us all that is to know about gelato. We learned that making gelato is simple, but making simple gelato is not. Traditional techniques and recipes are being put aside and slowly getting forgotten by new generations, we felt an urge to keep this recipes alive and bring them with us to LA, yes, giving new twists here and there for new flavors but respecting the overall guidelines that make gelato an authentic Italian experience.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Just like any business venture we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, we did all the possible research in order to be as much as prepared as possible, but of course at the end there’s always unexpected problems.

First obstacle for us, as foreigners, was getting our visa approved, not a simple process, a very stressful thing to go through even when you have all your best intentions and a clear project to present.

We were supposed to have the shop ready on April-May 2019 (even considering delays) but construction was slow and all the building inspections/permits took longer than we will ever imagine, sometimes the most minimal thing will delay you for weeks, that later turned into months. We even had to involve ourselves in the remodeling process, out of our own backgrounds, reading about codes to be informed, getting materials by ourselves, Alessandro even worked in the construction for months. We had to turn into multiple-jobs in the journey, as we felt some professionals we worked with don’t give their all.

At the end, we opened the shop on mid-November 2019, it was a huge hit to us to miss the Summer, opening in Winter and then be followed by all the hardships 2020 will bring to all.

Please tell us about Ecco un Poco | Natural Italian Gelato.
We concentrate in delivering an authentic Italian experience, working with traditional recipes designed for each individual flavor, every flavor has its uniqueness and we don’t use the same base for all. A lot of places nowadays abuse the word “gelato”, using it to make ice cream sound fancy and charge people for the wrong product, we make gelato the same it’s made in Italy, even all our machinery was brought from Italy to LA to deliver the same exact product.

The best compliment we can get is, “It tastes just like in Italy!”.

In our menu, we try to have a good variety of flavors: traditional flavors for both Italians and Americans, vegan flavors that are more than just fruit options, new gastronomical trends like more savory flavors and fun combinations. The whole shop is also 100% gluten-free, homemade waffle cones are both vegan and gluten-free, as we wanted everyone to enjoy a cone when they want to with no restrictions.

The gelateria is plastic-free, no plastic sampling spoons, all our packaging is compostable and biodegradable.

We are very happy and grateful to the community around us that welcomed us and has been so supportive, we love meeting the neighbors that turned into friends, we love being the place they’ll come to celebrate if one of their kids lost a tooth, a special date night, the place they’ll bring their family and friends from out of town… We’ve heard so many stories that it feels like we know them for years, its good to be in the happiness business.

All other information on how we’re different, with more details, can be found on this specific page on our website: https://www.eccounpoco.com/what-is-different

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of the flavors in gelateria is Parmigiano and Pear, a Parmigiano Reggiano base with a homemade pear sauce that complements well between the salty and sweet flavors of both. This flavor brings back Alessandro’s memories as a child when visiting the grandparent’s house: my nonna would give me a little piece of Parmigiano to get me to eat my fruit after lunch, normally a pear. When we were talking about making a Parmigiano flavor following a new trend in Italy where gelato has also savory flavors, I immediately knew we had to do Parmigiano + Pear, and the flavor immediately transports me to my nonna’s kitchen, and I’m happy to see customers excited about it every time I tell them the story… The flavor suddenly isn’t that threatening to them and they’re pleasantly surprised by the sweet and salty combination.

Contact Info:

• Address: 8318 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048
• Website: https://www.eccounpoco.com
• Phone: (310) 595-0466
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eccounpoco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eccounpoco/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/eccounpoco
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ecco-un-poco-natural-italian-gelato-los-angeles

Image Credit:
Alessandro Restelli

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