Badiani, Firenze 1932

Badiani, Firenze 1932

The first Badiani shop opened in the centre of Florence in 1932. After a long gelato career, Idilio Badiani passed the reigns to Orazio Pomposi and his two sons, Paolo and Patrizio. Paolo Pomposi, known as the ‘gelato creative genius’, took the Badiani name to new heights. In 2015, the Iconic Italian Gelato finally made its great debut in London.

The creator of Buontalenti

Play video

Buontalenti, the architect of Beauty

The Renaissance architect and creative genius, Bernardo Buontalenti is said to be the creator of gelato. In order to impress a Spanish delegation in Florence, he organised an extravagant banquet that ended with a masterpiece: a frozen cream to which he had added the rare and newly discovered spice, sugar.

However, it was Caterina de’ Medici, then Queen of France, that helped gelato reach the international fame it has today. In order to dazzle her guests, she had her team of Florentine pastry chefs prepare the gelato she served at the end of important meals. These foreign dignitaries brought the recipe for gelato back with them and made it fashionable across Europe.

Pomposi, the architect of Taste

Pomposi was born and raised around gelato since his own father was an expert gelatiere. Very early on, he understood that he could take the art of gelato even further through creativity and research. Just like Buontalenti, he studied the architecture of flavour and how to bring out the best qualities of genuine ingredients.

In commemoration of the great Florentine architect, Bernardo Buontalenti, Pomposi created a gelato flavour based on his original Renaissance recipe. The Badiani Bountalenti has become a world acclaimed flavour, which shows that the combination of few genuine ingredients and great gelato mastery are still very much appreciated today.

Order from our online shop

No one likes to wait for their gelato on a hot day, so, to make sure it gets to you quickly, we send it directly from the nearest Badiani shop.

Treat yourself