Antonio Ciabattoni

The Climb

Early work in gelaterie di suo fratello Simone e della famiglia Brustolon gave Antonio Ciabattoni the practical ground every gelato maker has to earn: daily production, close attention, and no room for improvisation that doesn’t hold up in the case. In that setting, the trade is learned through routine — ingredients handled properly, textures kept in check, temperatures respected, and each batch judged on consistency. The later role at La Sorbettiera grows directly out of that discipline. As founder and gelatiere-proprietario since 2007, he moved from making within other people’s operations to shaping his own.

Today

Since 2007, Ciabattoni has led La Sorbettiera across Montespertoli and Florence, with the work anchored in two places rather than one. In 2009, the business added a location in via dei Banchi inside Hotel Orologio in Florence, extending the shop into the city without replacing the original workshop in Montespertoli. That expansion shows a familiar artisan pattern: keep the production rooted, then bring the product closer to the counter.

Signature

Yerba Tropicana is the named signature here. In a craft defined by control and repetition, a signature like that signals where a maker allows a little more register and contrast. The point is not decoration for its own sake; it is a gelato built to carry a distinct name, which is its own kind of trade mark.

In Their Words “I am a gelato maker, born in 1981.”

Recognition

The specialty is artisan gelato. For Ciabattoni, that recognition is the sum of the path: early gelato work in family-run settings, then La Sorbettiera in Montespertoli and Florence, including via dei Banchi inside Hotel Orologio in Florence. The output is not framed as novelty; it is framed as practice, maintained over time.