If you have a job you truly love and enjoy, it doesn’t feel like work at all. Such is the life for Dianne Mann, the owner of Nana’s Ice Cream, Gelato & Candy Bar. A former investment banker, Dianne spent many days at Narragansett Beach with her children, often stopping at Nana’s in the Pier Marketplace for ice cream. When her children were in high school, Dianne purchased a beach house in the Pier and then in 2006 bought their favorite ice cream spot. According to Dianne, “I’ve been in flip flops ever since.”
Since 1985, Nana’s has been serving ice cream in Narragansett. After a trip to Italy with her daughter in 2006, Dianne added gelato into the mix. Gelato has a smoother, creamier texture than ice cream and because gelato is made with milk instead of cream, it’s actually healthier and only contains 1-4 grams of fat. Dianne makes her gelato in small batches and imports many of her ingredients from Italy (everything except the milk and sugar). Customers looking for gluten or lactose free products love the dairy-free fruit flavors like Blood Orange, Raspberry, Mango, Passion Peach or Passion Fruit. Nana’s signature gelato flavor is called “Nana’s Kiss.” This fan favorite is chocolate mixed with Snickers, Kit Kats and Hershey Kisses. Because Nana’s gelato has become such a crowd pleaser, Dianne now caters wedding receptions with her signature gelato bar. This season, Dianne has added three new flavors to her gelato repertoire – Key Lime, Cannoli and Coconut Mango.
Even though gelato is the current trend at Nana’s, the homemade ice cream still has its fans. The most popular flavors are Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Cake Batter (contrary to the nation’s most popular flavor – vanilla). Kids go crazy for the blue Cookie Monster and pink Bubble Gum flavors. Other popular flavors include Salted Caramel Chocolate Pretzel and Monster Mash, which is mixed with malted milk balls, M&Ms and cookie pieces. If you want to jazz up your ice cream, you can try a Koala Sundae, which is served in a homemade waffle cup bowl, or the Beached Whale Sundae, which is served in a sand pail and topped with brownies, bananas, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry.
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