Stella Luna

Stella Luna Gelato Cafe

Where to start? There is so much I love about this place already! My roommate Stef cannot contain her excitement for my new workplace. Even though I don't work on opening day (today), she and I will be dropping by after she gets off work.

I have never been happier about having to wear a uniform to work; then again, I've never had truly nice uniforms before. The gold aprons and ties (optional for the girls) are imported from Italy, then there are the button-up dress shirts with the Stella Luna logo (and a second style option for the girls).

The store itself feels very homey. Nice comfortable chairs in the corners, bookcases to display the coffees, teas, and chocolates for sale. Along the back walls are church pews as part of the seating. The lamps, too, are something you would find in a stylish home (or even just a home decor catalogue).

Everything about this place has a touch of elegance and class, which is exactly what Tammy is going for. When eating in, the gelato and milkshakes (frappé) are served in glassware: martini glasses and old fashioned champagne glasses. Gelato is served with an Italian cookie to garnish the already beautiful (and delicious!) gelato. The cones are also imported from Italy and each size has a unique design, and are far superior to the standard cones you tend to find here (not remotely styrofoamy in either texture or taste). The coffee here (from an old Swiss family-run company) is served with a chocolate covered espresso bean.

Friday was merely a practice day for our full staff (there are twelve of us--3 full-timers including myself and 9 part-timers--plus Tammy and Alessandro) to serve customers (our friends and family only). It was a bit crowded for those of us working, making it a bit awkward to effectively train; however, we were busy for nearly the full four hours that we were "open". This bodes extremely well for opening day. And since I was able to drop by today prior to getting this actually posted, I can confirm that opening day has indeed been busy. I will have lots to do tomorrow for my first 'real' day. However, I am not sure how the morning shift will go for the rest of the week since the crepes and waffles have not been introduced just yet.

I went in extra early on Friday to help deal with the inventory and prepare the shop for our 'customers'. Later, in my boredom due to the overcrowding behind the counter and my lack of something to do, I kept returning to my cleaning task from the day before: unpacking and washing all of the new dishes. By the end of the day Tammy said to me how glad she was that they found me. I am used to my bosses coming to love me, but I don't think it's ever happened so quickly! We haven't even officially opened yet (well, I guess now we technically have...).

I really am going to love working here!


UPDATE: Photos of the Stella Luna interior and our entire team taken on our 'test day': Stella Luna Gelato photos