Staci DumoskiWhat’s the coolest job you can think of? For law school alumni Jimmy Blalock and Travis Bailey, it’s “gelato maker.” Eight years ago, they (along with two partners) launched the San Diego-based An’s Gelato, which was recently named the best ice cream shop in America by USA Today.
The journey to gelato began all the way back in 2007, when Bailey and Kris Warren met and became friends with David Aguilera while traveling in Spain. At the time, Aguilera was working at a gelato shop.
“David thought that gelato could be done better,” said Bailey.
They had a chance to test that theory when Aguilera visited the U.S. in 2016. That’s when the four – Bailey, Blalock, Warren and Aguilera – began talking seriously about opening a gelato shop in San Diego.
In 2018, the team officially opened An’s Dry Cleaning in a 1934 North Park building. While the name might be confusing at first, it’s meant as a tribute to the former occupant of the space the gelato shop now occupies. The menu carries on the theme, with flavors such as Cashmere (goat cheese and honey), Velour (salted caramel and chocolate covered cones) and Leather (brown butter and chocolate chip cookies).
“The dry cleaning theme was originally thought of by a talented designer we were working with, Keenan Hartsten,” said Bailey. “It started as kind of a joke but as we talked through it it came to life and we decided to stick with it. Most people told us we were crazy to open a gelato shop with only seven flavors that is called a dry cleaner.”
It turned out that the idea wasn’t so off-the-wall after all, and the shop has done well enough that they have since opened two additional locations – An’s Hatmakers in Del Mar and An’s Athletic Field Services in Petco Park – with a fourth on the way. The team plans to continue their slow growth, expanding into neighborhoods, with each shop themed differently to bring something unique to the community, rather than just copying a prior shop.
Commenting on the award from USA Today, Bailey said, “It feels pretty great for the project we’ve been working on for eight years to get recognized. It’s really a testament to the quality of the product we make and the extremely high level of customer service that our hard working team strives to provide to each and every customer. We are, of course, grateful for the community and all our customers that have supported us along the way. We literally could not have won this award without them.”
He also acknowledged the contribution Chapman has made to the success of the business.
“It sounds cliche, but the education we received molded us to be critical thinkers and look at each problem from multiple different vantage points,” he said. “Obviously we didn’t learn anything about gelato, but if you can think your way through a problem and the possible solutions, then just as in law school, if you continue to do the work, you can achieve your end goal.”
To find out more about An’s Gelato (and all their delectable flavors) follow @ansgelato on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
Read more about what Chapman University Alumni are up to on our Class Notes page — and submit your own life updates for a chance to be featured!
