UPDATE (January 14, 2019): The Plano shop opened on January 12, and is celebrating with a grand opening party on January 19.
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The prettiest gelato in the world is coming to Plano. Amorino Gelato, the Paris-born chain known for its picture-perfect cones that look like roses, is unfurling its second shop in the DFW area with a location set to open at Legacy West.
Owners German Rodriguez and Giada Merlin are aiming to open before the end of 2018.
Founded in Paris in 2002, Amorino specializes in gelato and sorbet, in 24 flavors such as chocolate, strawberry, gianduia, honey lavender, pistachio, and melon. They also serve coffee, pastries, macarons, and chocolate. Their presentation is unique, with scoops that are formed into "petals," which you can do in mixed flavors.
There are more than 180 locations worldwide, including a dozen in the U.S., where it debuted in New York in 2011. The chain came to Texas in 2016 with a shop in Houston. The first store in Dallas-Fort Worth opened in January 2018 at the Shops at Clearfork in Fort Worth.
Rodriguez says he always felt that Legacy West — with its open-air atmosphere with shopping and restaurants evoked a European environment — would make an ideal spot.
"We've been talking to the developers for more than a year," he says. "Once they tried our gelato, they loved it."
They've begun construction in a new storefront at 7700 Windrose Ave., #G157, that's on the north side of Legacy West, not far from the Starbucks and Legacy Hall, which are surely the center's two most visible landmarks.
They'll have seating inside and out, but this location will differ from Fort Worth in that some of the gelato-making equipment will be in a back room.
"Fort Worth has the machines right there, and we always have music, so it's more vibrant," Rodriguez says. "Plano will be a little quieter."
They'll use the discoveries they've made and the intel they've gathered from customers in the past year to inform their approach for Plano.
"One of the biggest hits has been our mango sorbet," he says. "We get so much positive feedback on that flavor. I think it's because we use a unique mango that's especially sweet."
The vegan thing is big, as well.
"We've been met with a wave of requests from people who want vegan ice cream or who are avoiding dairy, so we always have those flavors," he says. "We do a chocolate sorbet that's more creamy and chocolatey than you could imagine."
They're also looking to fill a serious gelato need. "We have numerous customers who drive from Dallas and Plano, and we're happy we'll soon have a closer location," he says.
