Dolcezza, a local chain of gelato shops, is preparing to give away free scoops Sunday, including at its downtown Bethesda location, to celebrate the 20th birthday of the business, according to its owners.
Co-founder Robb Duncan told MoCo360 Tuesday that the giveaway is Dolcezza’s way of saying thank you to customers. Sunday is also National Ice Cream Day.
“We could do this all we want, but if we never had the support of the people who come into our shops every single day, we wouldn’t exist,” Duncan said.
The free scoops of Chocotorta-flavored gelato will be available at the Bethesda shop at 7111 Bethesda Lane from noon to closing at 11 p.m. and at other area shops according to their operating hours.
Chocotorta is an Argentine dessert made of chocolate cookies dipped in milk and layered between dulce de leche cream. The gelato is made with chunks of the dessert folded into Dolcezza’s dulce de leche gelato.
To prepare for the birthday celebration, Dolcezza has made about 75 gallons of Chocotorta—about double the amount produced for past giveaways—to be distributed to the Bethesda shop and its five others in Washington, D.C., and Virginia, according to Duncan.
“We’ve done this a couple of times and we’ve run out,” he said, noting the special flavor is only made once a year. “We’re making extra this year, so we hopefully do not run out and everybody that comes in to celebrate will get the free scoop.”
Duncan said he and his wife Violeta Edelman opened their first Dolcezza in 2004 in a 300-square-foot shop in Georgetown after they were inspired by the gelaterias in Buenos Aires–Edelman’s hometown.
Opened in 2008, the Bethesda store was Dolcezza’s second location, with the other shops following in the District and Virginia.
Using fresh and locally sourced ingredients in its gelato is key to Dolcezza’s business philosophy, Duncan said.
Over the years, the couple have formed long-lasting relationships with local farmers in the region, ranging from Amish dairies in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to a farm in Loudoun, Virginia, that supplies the gelateria with variety of peppermint called chocolate mint. They also shop at area farmers markets to buy produce for gelato flavors that are made seasonally. Dolcezza gelato is made at a factory in Union Market, a food hall in the District, according to the company website.
Duncan described Dolcezza’s 20-year run as an odyssey complete with triumphs and setbacks, such as the closing of two shops in the District due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s not easy at all. It’s a lot of work. And it’s, in a certain sense, gotten more difficult as costs have risen, as the supply chain buckled, you know, all those kinds of things,” he said.
On Sunday, Dolcezza will be celebrating “the strength and the vitality and the family and the culture and the product,” Duncan said.
The couple also are enjoying the success of their six shops and looking for opportunities to expand in the mid-Atlantic region, he said.
“For us, it just kind of feels like the wind is blowing towards expansion and to really take this to the next level,” Duncan said.