Ice cream parlour under the chestnut tree

Munich, 1966: Sofie longs for true love. Every Friday in the Bella Italia ice cream parlour, she dreams of a trip south: to Venice, the city of her dreams. However, Lorenzo, the reclusive owner of the ice cream parlour, knows that life in Italy can also be hard and full of strife. For generations, his family lived in Val di Zoldo, the valley of traditional ice cream makers. When Lorenzo's grandparents' business began to struggle in the valley, they decided to try introducing the icy delicacy as far away as Vienna. The Battaglias' ice cream gradually gained popularity, and new flavours were added all the time. But the paths of fate are unpredictable. And so, Sofie gradually learns from Lorenzo what happened to his family and why he eventually turned his back on his homeland...

A moving story about the power of family, love, and friendship, set against the backdrop of the history of the Italian art of ice cream making.


Translated by Helena Mirovská.