We’ve now got great ‘grab n’ go’ lunch items at all of our Portland locations. If you’re in a hurry for lunch just stop by and pick-up one of these delicious take-out items:

Caprese Tramezzini – Tomato, fresh mozzerella, basil, olive spread made with whole olives, olive oil, basil and lemon zest on pearl bakery white bread.

Veggie Tramezzini – Tomato, artichoke, arugula, capers, avocado, lemon aioli on pearl bakery white bread.

Rosemary Chicken Caesar Salad – Romaine lettuce, parmesan reggiano, homemade croutons, dressing made with eggo yolk, garlic, dijon mustard, anchovies, parmesan, worchestershire, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.   topped with a rosemary lemon chicken breast.

All our carry-out, cafe items are made fresh daily. Stop by today for a healthy and nourishing lunch that you can take back to the office or eat on the fly.

Valentines day is the perfect day to bring your loved ones into any of our Mio Gelato locations. We have made something special for all our customers and their special someone.

‘That’s Amore’ Valentines Day Flavor

Our gelato chefs have come up with an exciting new flavor just for this romantic holiday. ‘That’s Amore’ gelato is a rich, dark chocolate gelato base with a ribbon of salted caramel running throughout. This delicious treat is not to be missed and will only be around for the most romantic of holidays. Stop by this Friday, Saturday or Sunday (February 12-14th) to share a scoop with that special someone.

Two Tarts Gift Sets

We will also be featuring the amazingly decadent cookie inspirations of Portland’s own Two Tarts Bakery. The beautifully wrapped gift sets are available in 2 sizes, a small assortment for $4.95 and a larger collection of cookies for $11.95. Supply is limited  so stop be soon to get your hands on these delightful sweets for your sweet!

Mio Gelato Gift Cards

We offer gift cards redeemable for all of our ’sweet’ products including gelato, pastries, coffee drinks and cafe items. If you’re not sure what to get that girl or guy that has everything a gift card might be just the ticket.

We’re thrilled to welcome the 18-year old Portland Farmers Market to our Northwest and downtown neighborhood. The popular market is set to expand adding a Monday market at Pioneer Courthouse Square and brand new location at Northwest 23rd Avenue and Savier Street.

The Saturday market located on the park blocks by Portland State University will also be expanding adding an additional block nearly doubling it’s space. The market will open it’s 2010 season March 20th with approximately 170 vendors and much more room for Saturday shoppers.

The market is known for it’s outstanding local produce, artisan cheeses and baked goods. We’re sure the newest locations will be a huge hit and help to reinvigorate a somewhat stagnant Northwest 23rd shopping district.

For more information on the Portland market expansion, check out the latest article on Oregonlive.com.

Hey all you Mio fans, followers and Mayors. We’ve got a new Free Fan Friday promotion starting this week. We’ll be giving away a free scoop of gelato every Friday this month to one of our biggest fans.

In order to qualify use Foursquare or Gowalla to check-in at any of our locations. Make sure your settings are set to share your updates on Twitter. Every check-in that is tweeted will count as one chance to win our weekly prize. The more you check-in the better your odds of winning.

From all of the collected check-ins, we’ll randomly draw our weekly winner. Be sure to check your Twitter account as we’ll need to email you your coupon for some free gelato.

Thanks so much for all of your continued support and props out there in cyberspace. We LOVE all the feedback and good vibes so keep them coming.

Cheers,

Mio Gelato Team

We’re crazy about the newest social media craze, Foursquare. A fun tool that allows you to share your favorite locations, foods and activities  around town with your friends. The more your share the more cool stuff you win from Foursquare like badges and the ultimate prize, becoming MAYOR.

Foursquare awards the supreme title of ‘Mayor’ to the person who’s checked-in the most over a designated time period. We see this tool as a superior way to award and recognize our biggest fans.

If you are using the iPhone app for Foursquare and become Mayor of any of our four locations, you’ll be treated to a coffee or a free scoop of gelato each week! That’s right, as a thank-you we’ll treat you to your favorite flavor every week you hold down the mayorship.

So let the check-in battle begin!

If you aren’t familiar with Foursquare and want to participate in this great promotion just visit www.foursquare.com to sign-up for this cool and fun new tool.

Our newest customer, Ben, loves his gelato! We love his enthusiasm and are so pleased we could make his day. Thanks to his dad, Mike Jackson (@mikejacksontweet) for sharing this special moment with us.

Ever wonder how you go about opening your own Gelato shop? This video takes a look at one of the gelato universities in Italy. The Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna Italy is doing a booming business. They help train future gelato makers  on to produce, market and succeed in the Italian gelato industry. Enjoy!

Calling them ‘The 38 Essential Portland Restaurants’ eater.com features Bridgetown’s best places to get a good meal.

Included on the list are several neighbors to both our NW location and our shop in the Pearl. Patanegra, located just off NW 23rd, offers authentic Spanish cuisine. The baked goat cheese salad with walnuts is a must-have.

Their #1 pick, Clyde Common is just across Burnside from our shop and a customer favorite. The food is amazingly fresh and the long, communal tables inspire a sense of local community.

Get the full list of Portland’s best food spots on eater.com.

We often get the question, ‘How does gelato differ from ice cream?’. There are several major differences, but the on that makes gelato a healthier option is the fat content. A recent article by Matt Preston from The Syndney Morning Herald breaks down how to tell a glace from a granita. We’ve outlined some of the key frozen dessert terms below.

According to Matt, frozen desserts differ in two ways – fat content and whether they were churned while being frozen. “Fat, in the form of cream or milk, gives richness and smoothness to ice-cream, parfaits and semifreddos. Sorbets, spooms and granitas usually don’t have any cream or milk but may use the emulsification properties of egg whites to bind the mix.”

Churning or agitating the dessert while freezing creates the texture and weight of the ice cream or sorbet. Matt contends that “Generally sorbets, sherbets and ice-creams tend to be churned, while parfaits, semifreddos and kulfis aren’t and thus will be denser.”

Matt’s Glossary

Gelato Italian word for ice-cream. Churned but tends to be less airy so it’s more intense in flavor. A lower cream content in the custard base means it can also be less rich and have a colder mouth feel than French ice-cream.

Glace French word for ice-cream. This is usually a rich, high-fat-content version of a cooked custard (creme anglaise) agitated orchurned while freezing.

Granita (aka an ice or, in French, granite) More granular than a sorbet, thanks to a higher proportion of water to sugar. Traditionally will not contain eggs. Debate rages on whether a granita should be stirred during freezing and whether the ice should be scraped from the hard frozen mix or allowed to thaw slightly first.

Iced kachang Malaysian dessert of shaved ice drizzled with rose syrup and coffee on top of hunks of jelly, corn kernels, lychees and palm seeds.

Iced milk Higher water content from more milk than cream means a colder mouth feel and less smoothness, unless made very quickly. Lighter, less creamy ice, often with a lower calorie count.

Parfait Light, unchurned, cream-based frozen custard dessert, often served sliced.

Semifreddo (aka perfetti or, in Spain, semifrio): Moulded, partially frozen Italian dessert similar to parfait but often served slightly less cold.

Sherbet Lighter than ice-cream, richer than an ice, basically this is a sorbet that contains some milk but is still under 5 per cent fat. Can contain gelatine or egg whites. Related to India’s sharbat and the Middle Eastern charbat – traditionally both drinks thick enough to eat with a spoon.

Sorbet (aka sorbetto in Italy): Iced flavoured sugar syrup that contains neither fat nor egg yolks but can contain egg whites for textural improvement. Often served as a palate refresher.

If you’re headed out to watch Avatar 3D on the BIG screen be sure to stop by our newest location at Bridgeport Village.

Bridgeport Village 7291 SW Bridgeport Rd. | Tigard, OR 97224 | 503-670-1700

Monday through Thursday 9a.m. – 9.p.m | Friday 9am – 10p.m. | Saturday & Sunday 11a.m. – 11p.m.

Avatar is currently playing on 2 screens and has been the hit of the season. The sci-fi fantasy by director James Cameron boasts amazing effects and the latest CGI technology. For an inside look at the making of Avatar, check out this video for the behind the scenes scoop.