Community Highlights: Meet Fabrizio Cali of Dolce Vita

Today we’d like to introduce you to Fabrizio Cali. Them and their team share their story with us below:

We started as a Gelato shop 14 years ago. It was hard at the beginning because Gelato was unknown in Arizona (there were only two Gelato shops in Phoenix, everything else was ice cream) but slowly customers began to appreciate the difference between Italian Gelato and Ice Cream. After 4 years we decided to open next door a little Italian Grocery, importing from Italy most of our products.

After 2 years we began to serve panini, salad, and bruschetta. After the pandemic hit, we decided to invest in a full commercial kitchen, and starting in October 2021 we began to serve hot food such as pasta, pizza, meatballs, and more. Our concept is to provide a casual dine-in experience that is the most authentic Italian experience you can have. We don’t serve some iconic American Italian dishes (like Alfredo Sauce) not because they are bad, but because those are dishes that are not in food Italian culture. The owner and chef, Fabrizio, was born and raised in Sicily, and Marica, the pastry and gelato chef, was born and raised in Italy. Francesca, the other chef, was born and raised in Italy.

Alright, 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?
We had struggled at the beginning because Gelato was very unknown in Arizona and everyone was looking for ice cream which is completely different, then we had struggled during the pandemic but that for the same for everyone.

When we launched the new menu, it was a little bit hard at the beginning because a lot of customers were expecting the Italian food they are used to (Alfredo, Veal Parm…) but our effort is to “educate” customers on what is the real Italian food and over the time, most of the customers they appreciate the difference

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Dolce Vita is very proud to provide a real Italian experience. We were inspired by the Italian Tavola Calda (which means Hot Table). In Italy, Tavola Calda is somehow in the middle between a bar where they serve panini and a full restaurant.

It is a place where you are served like in a restaurant but in a very casual environment and the food is usually fast-served, fresh, and in our case very authentic. We do everything from scratch, and we buy only ingredients this is a huge difference from many other restaurants in the valley

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
I have a wonderful team that helps Dolce Vita. The three key employees are all born and raised in Italian (we provide free Italian lessons to all the other employees and then a staff of US employees helps us to serve customers and provide them the best experience possible

Contact Info:

• Website: gelatodolcevita.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dolcevitamesa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gelatoandgrocerydolcevita/