Bringing gelato downtown and beyond

Mario Lozanov’s love of gelato grew two years ago. He was facing a tough choice—try his hand at something he loved or go back into the corporate world after putting in a decade with a major company only to be laid off.

“I needed to break out of that environment,” he says. “I didn’t want that again. I thought it was the right time to popularize gelato in Baton Rouge.”

In July, Lozanov’s gelato carts concept came to fruition and started popping up downtown and around City Park.

“My idea was to bring it to everybody in the city,” he says. “Gelato has always been confined to the country clubs and the Bocage area. [The gelato cart] is something new and exciting. I want to reach everybody and bring it to the people.” Read the full story.

His custom carts feature about 10 flavors of freshly prepared gelato, ranging from milk and honey and watermelon to classic Italian flavors such as tiramisu and panna cotta. He decides the flavors based on what’s selling as well as the seasons. Right now, his lemon and strawberry flavors are the most popular.

However, he wants to bring more localized flavors to the gelato carts, such as his unique sweet potato gelato.

“I always use local fruit,” he says. “Ideally, I want to integrate local producers for all the flavors.”
As of now, Lozanov has three carts and will expand to five soon. The carts are at the Main Street Market at 11 a.m.-2 p.m. every day, by North Boulevard’s Town Square at 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, at the Farmers Market at 8 a.m.-noon, and at City Park at 3 p.m.-8 p.m. during the week and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Though the transition has been difficult from the corporate world to the city streets with the gelato cart, Lozanov is enjoying the happiness he’s bringing to customers.

“I’ve always had a cushy office job,” he says. “I haven’t been in the streets in a long time. That first day was so hot. It was long hours. I lost 20-25 pounds without going to the gym, but you can see the result of your work right then when you see the smile on the customers’ faces.” For more information, click here. —Matthew Sigur