For weeks, a sign saying “so close you can almost taste it” hung in the window of the storefront vacated by Le Petit Paris last year, and on Tuesday, Sacramentans got their chance to go in and sample authentic Italian gelato in Midtown when Devine Gelateria & Cafe opened. “The opening went really well,” owner Elizabeth McCleary said Wednesday morning as she prepared to make gelato and sorbetto from scratch for the upcoming day. Originally planning to close at 8 p.m. on the opening day, there was a line of people as late as 7:45 p.m., and McCleary said she might adjust her hours to stay open another hour if the trend continues. Flavors include roasted almond, pistachio, dulce de leche, b

Snow cones are a seasonal favorite of the Osaka-Ya pastry shop and market, but it’s taken more than snow cones to keep the shop in business for almost 100 years. A vestige of Sacramento’s former Japantown, which sat in the area around L, N, Third and Fourth streets, Osaka-Ya still provides traditional Japanese sweets, hot food and other edibles near the corner of 10th and V streets downtown. “My mom and dad took over this business in 1963,” said owner Linda Nakatani. “A friend gave them the recipe for the snow cone syrup, and they used a hand-crank snow cone machine to shave the ice.” Her father installed a motor, and the snow cones have been a summer favorite at the business ever since

The 4th Annual South Area Neighborhood Ice Cream Social is set for Tuesday, August 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at 5625-24th Street in Sacramento (the corner lawn of 24th Street and Fruitridge Road, midway between I-5 and Hwy. 99). Bethany Presbyterian Church is again serving as the host location for this event, which last year attracted more than 100 members of the community. The event will feature old-fashioned hand-cranked ice cream makers, unlimited ice cream and toppings, cookies and goodies, live banjo band music and children’s activities. There is no cost to attend. Information and useful resources to help families make the back-to-school transition for their students will also be ava

An East Sacramento couple will open an Italian cafe specializing in handmade gelato and sorbetto in Midtown this summer. Elizabeth and Brian McCleary decided to open Devine Gelateria & Cafe after she spent a month in Italy learning how to make the icy Italian confections. Elizabeth McCleary will operate the gelateria ("je LOT uhria") at 1221 19th St., where a Parisian boutique and cafe called Le Petit Paris closed last fall. McCleary, who is part Italian, went through a four-level course to become a gelato maker at Carpigiani Gelato University near Bologna. She also spent a week working at the school's gelateria to get some real-life experience. While there, an ABC TV crew interviewed h

In the hot Sacramento summer, knowing how to make ice cream may come in handy when trying to cool off. Thankfully, that’s exactly what was on the agenda for Ginger Elizabeth Hahn’s summer class last Saturday. Thirty-five students gathered at Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates — Hahn’s boutique — which offers classes for $35 per person. The class was located at the 1818 L St. Lofts penthouse kitchen across the street. Hahn, a chocolatier, taught two sold-out classes that day. She first told the class of her training, which includes the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She has worked with world-renowned chocolatiers such as Jacques Torres and pastry chef En-Ming Hsu and had the chance

Recently, the owners of Midtown businesses on J Street facing Marshall Park renamed their area The Bloc. Downtown, the owners of the businesses on 11th and H streets renamed their establishments The Retrolodge. Now a group of Curtis Park businesses will rename themselves. This Saturday, Gunther's Ice Cream, Pangaea Cafe and Capsity Offices will reintroduce the corner of 3rd and Franklin streets as "The Parks." They want to call it "The Parks" because the area is located near Curtis Park, William Land Park, Tahoe Park and Oak Park, says Ricardo Robles, co-founder of Capsity Offices. From 1 to 3 p.m., the neighborhood will celebrate the one-year anniversary of Capsity Offices and Pangaea

They call him the Ice Cream Dude. And when people stop 24-year-old Cody Hale on the street, it's just as much because of his car as it is to buy a Watermelon Bomb Pop, Cry Baby Italian Ice or a Bubble Gum Snow Cone. That's just what the former construction worker from Rio Linda hoped for when he took a gamble with his last $500 and built a rad ice cream wagon that'd be at home at any California beach. Lucky for him, he had an 1965 Volkswagen Beetle sitting in the garage and a dad who helped him restore and modify the car. Just two weeks into his new profession, he thinks he's found a recession-proof job he can still do despite a recent injury. "I make more money driving an ice cream tr