A new dessert shop in north Fort Worth is specializing in a painstakingly crafted treat: housemade gelato. Called Spurs Gelato, it's now open at 5601 Basswood Blvd. #193, in a strip mall near the Park Glen neighborhood.
The concept comes from Jim Garrigan, an enthusiastic 70-year-old Detroit native and former San Francisco police sergeant who, after retiring, decided to launch a second career as a professional gelato-maker. He and his wife, Terry, opened the shop earlier this summer, taking over a space last occupied by a CBD store.
Their menu features a dozen gelatos, whose flavors rotate per season, Jim Garrigan says. Current flavors include raspberry, caramel peanut, lemon, tiramisu, milk chocolate, blueberry, Key lime pie, coffee, Nutella, cookies & cream, and pistachio.
Gelato is served by the scoop, up to three, in cones or cups, and crowned with fresh fruit toppings.
They're using special equipment imported from Italy to make the gelato in-house, incorporating fresh fruits and natural ingredients.
"There’s no artificial flavoring, preservatives, or additives in anything I serve," he says. "The raspberries you taste are real raspberries. If we want to do a vanilla flavor, we use vanilla beans. We don’t use mixes or bases that other places may use."
The menu also includes cannolis, the Italian fried pastry dough stuffed with a sweet, creamy cheese filling, a common treat in the Northeast but less common in DFW. The recipe comes from Garrigan's mother, whose parents were native to Italy.
Cannoli in different varieties from Spurs Gelato.Spurs
“We make authentic Sicilian cannolis with ricotta and mascarpone,” he says. “We don’t fill them until they’re ordered. If they’re pre-filled and sitting around for a while, the shells will get soggy. That’s not a good cannoli.”
There are coffee drinks, including espresso, Americano and affogato, a luxurious dessert-drink in which a shot of espresso is poured over a scoop of gelato.
The couple also serve granitas, an upscale ice dessert that originated in Sicily — "sort of a cross between a snow cone and a slushie,” he says.
The idea to open a gelato shop first came to Garrigan during his travels to see friends and family in Italy. He was so intent on making his shop authentic that he enrolled at a school in Italy for budding gelato-makers: the Gelato Naturale Academy in Grosotto, a commune in the Province of Sondrio in Lombardy.
There, he learned the ins and outs of making gelato and mastered the slow-churning process that gives the treat a denser texture than ice cream.
“I was taught by a family that’s been in the business for many, many years,” he says. “I learned that every single ingredient counts and impacts the flavor, down to the water. I learned to use purified water because it has a better taste. I use the city water to wash my hands.”
After completing his coursework, he moved to Texas, where he and his wife have family. They settled in the Fort Worth area and opened the shop in May, with a distinctive family-friendly vibe.
"We have a kids cone and we show cartoons on a TV — we want people to bring their families here and have a good time," he says.
Garrigan is reveling in this second act, which connects him to his roots and brings something unique to the area.
“Even at my age, I’m a pretty social person,” he says. “I love to be around people. But we also want people to know what it's like to have a real Italian gelato."
