Gelato Festival World Masters, the main category tournament with partners Carpigiani and Sigep - Italian Exhibition Group, continues its journey around the globe searching for the world’s best gelato. The second North American stop of 2025 was held in Mississauga on February 20 where 10 gelato chefs took part in the sweetest competition of the year hosted by Cool King Refrigeration, Carpigiani distributor.

The winning chefs of the February 20 gelato competition are:

First place
Stephanie Tucci of By Chefanie in Barrie (ON) with the flavor “Mio Nonno”

Description: mascarpone gelato with fig vermouth caramel and cantucci (typical biscuit from Tuscany) crumble.

Second place
Onur Ylmaz of Ice Creamonology in Toronto (ON) with the flavor “Mastic & Passion”

Description: mastic base gelato with homemade honeycomb and fresh passion fruit.

Third place
Parry Sohi of Nani’s gelato in Mississauga (ON) with the flavor “Diavola”

Description: diavola pizza infused gelato with candied prosciutto and pecorino romano.

The selected gelato artisans will go on to the North America Semifinals of Gelato Festival World Masters scheduled for 2025. Flavor, structure, creativity and presentation are the four parameters used for the evaluation, highlighting the choice of ingredients, the craftsmanship in elaborating the recipe and the visual impact of the gelato (see below the full list of participants). 

The jury was composed of: 
•    Gianluca Ruggieri, Private Chef
•    Jeremy Day, Flavor Specialist and Bartender
•    Luca Vitali, Chef and Owner of “Casa Toscana”
•    Alessandro Buccianti, Chef and Owner of “Punto Gelato”

Gelato Festival debuted in Florence in 2010, inspired by the creation of the first gelato recipe by the versatile architect Bernardo Buontalenti in 1559. Since then, the event has expanded its borders, first to the rest of Italy, then to Europe and – starting in 2017 – the United States, with a total of 80 Festivals held, before embracing the entire planet with the world championship of Gelato Festival World Masters 2021, which concluded in December 2021 – with the victory of Adam Fazekas from Budapest – and saw a record of 3,500 gelato artisans judged by international juries. 

GELATO FESTIVAL WORLD MASTERS 
Ontario Challenge 
February 20, 2025
Cool King Refrigeration

Winners:
First place
Stephanie Tucci of By Chefanie in Barrie (ON) with the flavor “Mio Nonno”
Second place
Onur Ylmaz of Ice Creamonology in Toronto (ON) with the flavor “Mastic & Passion”
Third place
Parry Sohi of Nani’s gelato in Mississauga (ON) with the flavor “Diavola”

List of the other participants:
•    Lara El Alam of Divino in Georgetown (ON) with the flavor “Molassini”; 
•    Kate Cram of Cold Front Gelato in Nanaimo (BC) with the flavor “Buttermilk gelato”;
•    Gisella Zomparelli Chung of Gelato North in Toronto (ON) with the flavor “Dubai Chocolate”;
•    Daniela Zomparelli of Lola’s Gelato in Toronto (ON) with the flavor “Mangonada”;
•    Lois Kim of Spoonful of Futura Granita + Gelato in Toronto (ON) with the flavor “Hummus & Breadsticks”;
•    Salvatore Guarna of I Love Gelato in Burlington (ON) with the flavor “Meravigghia”;
•    Sevan Kakajan of G for Gelato in Toronto (ON) with the flavor “Pistacchio”.