Mike Guerriero, barely in his early thirties, has clearly launched a trajectory for regional popularity and success. Guerriero Gelato now celebrates five locations in New Jersey, the newest opening its doors recently in Teaneck occupying the space that was formerly Bischoff’s, which ended its 90-year run in 2022. The RCBC supervised kashering the facility.

Other Guerriero Gelato stores are located in West Orange, Montclair, Caldwell and Morristown with the Caldwell, Teaneck, and West Orange stores operating under the kashrut supervision of the Vaad of MetroWest.

Guerriero shared, “I had a rough upbringing growing up in Paterson, New Jersey and so I acted out a lot in school. My uncle took me in and brought me to a locally famous ice cream and gelato shop where his buddy was the manager, and they put me to work. I absolutely despised it because as my friends were getting cars and enjoying their weekends, they would drive by and honk the horn as I was cleaning the parking lot or washing the windows. I was dead set on learning stuff in the kitchen so that I would never have to be seen picking up trash, and in that process found my love for creating ice cream.”

Guerriero continued, “Growing up working in the business was awesome and when my boss’ location in Caldwell came up for sale we jumped on it and purchased the place with some help from an investor.”

What means the most to Guerriero is being able to create something people love. “We listen and try to create flavors that people wouldn’t expect. I live for the gratification that they love what we create. We don’t cut corners and we try to source the best ingredients possible.”

Guerriero has over 18 years of experience, having started in the business as a 14-year-old. According to the website, his desserts have appeared on ESPN, the Food Network, “Real Housewives,” in the Washington Post, and more.

He brought his childhood friend Chris Calcano into the business. Calcano is the “‘flavor engineer,’” a ‘Ph.D.’ of sorts in batching and is responsible for the flavors you love and for quality control. That calculates to a lot of flavor tasting, a sacrifice Chris is willing to make for the greater good,” Guerriero quipped, tongue-in-cheek.

Eventually, Breanna Guerriero, Guerriero’s wife, came on board, whom he refers to as, “The Real Boss.” Guerriero crowed that Bree is completely self-taught and took over the cake department at just 19 years old, pioneering bakery-style techniques on ice cream cakes. In the recent couple of years, Eliana Acevedo, Guerriero’s sister, has adeptly stepped into that role.

Addressing the quintessential question of the difference between gelato and ice cream, Guerriero explained, “Gelato refers more to the method of making ice cream more than the contents. Essentially gelato has less air, is more viscous, has less milk fat at 8% and more flavor.” Their gelato is also made from imported ingredients. For their ice cream, they use a super premium milk product with the highest butterfat at 16%, giving it a rich flavor and feel.

Sometimes converting a facility to compliance with kashrut standards can be complicated. Asked if that was a difficult process, Guerriero is quick to respond, “Absolutely not. The only thing we needed to do was take out the gummy bears, but I don’t think they belong on ice cream anyway!

All our recipes go back decades to when my old boss started the company and even Bischoff’s recipes were all already kosher,” he said. He said they just had to remove the kitchen equipment and start over with just desserts.

Guerriero has great reverence for Teaneck’s historic ice cream shop in the center of town and its amazing success over the past 90 years. “They did it all without being able to serve the large Orthodox Jewish community that lives here, and we knew it would be the perfect marriage if we could continue to build on their success, but also be open for everyone in the community to enjoy.”

In the confection world, there’s a lot of concern by people with allergies and other food sensitivities, especially around the issue of nuts.

“Nut allergy awareness is a huge thing for us and was in effect on day one. We have a separate nut freezer and a designated scoop and scooper well. We also plan to offer sugar-free and dairy-free options and will expand it based on demand. We have a few different shops, and every shop has different needs and flavor offerings. We plan on using the current soft opening to discover what those are.”

He anticipated the “official” grand opening in February or March after they work out all the kinks. For now they are open Wednesday and Thursday from 3-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from noon-10:30 p.m., and Sunday from noon-9 p.m.. Hours will be expanded soon and then an exciting day will arrive at the grand opening, when they give away free ice cream. Guerriero also added, “Bischoff’s had two sides; one for ice cream and the other for candy. We’re going to maintain that model, with Guerriero on one side and Marc’s Cheesecake on the other.” So stay tuned for additional ads, promos and information.

Customers will also notice the story on their cups describing how the Guerrieros follow in their family tradition of giving in times of urgent need. Post-Holocaust in a small town in Italy, Guerriero’s aunt operated a soup kitchen specifically to service Jewish refugees from Germany making their way to Rome after the war. “It’s in our DNA,” said Guerriero, as he shared that during the recent pandemic they gave up their salaries to provide and help deliver groceries and 75,000 meals to needy families in the Paterson area.

Customers can sign up for Guerriero’s email list “The Inside Scoop” and join the loyalty program to get special discounts and promotions offered each week. Enrollment in their loyalty program can be done at checkout or on the website www.guerrierogelato.com.

Our advice: sign up soon and don’t wait for your chance to “melt away …!”

Ellie Wolf is a staff writer at The Jewish Link.