Briellies Gelato & Cafe, located at 529 Main St. in East Haven, opened on June 22 2024 and are approaching their two year anniversary. Kevin Gutierrez, the owner of Briellies, has worked in retail his whole life, and doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon.
Kevin’s parents own the Gutiz Bakery and Cafe next door, and he worked there when he was younger. After a trip to Italy he decided on gelato as a business idea, “It’s nothing like what we have over here. So I feel like bringing something that people aren’t used to would work”. Kevin also says that in Italy he learned the science and history behind gelato; “They basically told me how to formulate my own recipes.”
Their best selling flavor is Oreo, but their tiramisu and cheesecake flavors get a lot of love too. Besides those popular flavors, there’s also some interesting flavors, my personal favorite is guava cheesecake. Kevin stated “That’s what I like about my shop. I try to have flavors you’re not [going to] find everywhere.” He says that he comes up with new flavors in many different ways, sometimes he looks up trending flavors around other areas, or customers ask him for flavors.
Kevin explained the main differences between gelato and ice cream. He first noted that “Gelato is just the Italian word for frozen treat. So for them, gelato is ice cream.” However, there are key differences between how Italians make gelato and how American ice cream is made. Firstly, gelato is served at 10°F compared to ice cream, which is served at 0°F degrees. This means that you get more flavor and texture from gelato because it doesn’t freeze your tongue. Since sugar acts as an antifreeze in liquids, ice cream needs more sugar because it’s served colder, but gelato uses less sugar because it isn’t served cold. The other main difference is the process used, besides less sugar, gelato also uses more milk and less overrun (the amount of air in ice cream). Because ice cream uses more cream and overrun, it’s often thinner and made up of mostly air. Gelato is made with more milk and less air, meaning it’s more dense and packed with flavor.
Briellies make all of their flavors in house. This means that they have total control over the ingredients, “We’re using 100% clean ingredients, we use cane sugar instead of corn syrup, and no emulsifiers [chemicals that help liquids mix].” They also have many fruit flavors, which are made with real fruit. Kevin said, “Our banana gelato is made with 100% fresh bananas, and our strawberry flavor is made with fresh strawberries.” When there are tropical fruit flavors that they can’t get in Connecticut, they use high quality pulps instead of powders.
Kevin used to work in his parents’ bakery and cafe next door, so he learned most of what he knows about running a business from them. He has plans to expand in the future because the business has been growing. “Yeah, signs are positive, and hopefully, within the next year or two, we can save enough capital to launch another location.” He also wants to get a cart so he can do fairs or parties, and also expand into making some packaged gelato to sell at local stores. He comments on the difficulty of expanding because of logistical problems, “Obviously we have permits to sell in here. But once you get a cart or you start [selling] the pre packaged stuff. I need permits for [it].”
Lastly, his advice to new business owners is to remember about three important things: Presentation, Product, and Service. “People really care about cleanliness, and it’s very important to me.” In order to be successful, you also need a good product so people will want to buy it. He also says that you have to treat your customers well so they’ll always come back. “Without the customers, you’re nothing. So I think that’s probably the most important thing, taking care of your customers.”