Every part of An’s is unique. For starters, how many people can say they bought locally sourced, from-scratch gelato at a dry-cleaner? Today I had the pleasure of talking with Kris, CEO and one of the four co-owners running An’s Dry Cleaning in North Park. Committed to bringing a unique experience to their customers, An’s is a gelato shop like none other.
The building that now houses world-class gelato used to be much different – prior to Kris and his co-owners taking over the space, it really was a functioning dry-cleaning spot. In an effort to keep the history of the space alive, An’s Dry Cleaning was transformed into a gelato shop.
It took about a year to find the right space for the business, says Kris. Settling down in North Park wasn’t done on a whim. The team at An’s wanted a place where they could win over locals rather than tourists, building a relationship with regulars in the neighborhood.
They also needed a customer base who would enjoy more than just vanilla and chocolate – people who were willing to try saffron, rosemary olive oil, and other distinct flavors. North Park presented itself as a place that had “people that would appreciate unique gelato”.
Making creative and funky flavors isn’t easy, though. The team dedicates an immense amount of time to brainstorm and conceptualize each and every bite. The man responsible for the science behind the gelato is David, a true master of the craft. After starting in a gelato shop in Europe, David became an expert gelato maker and consultant. When Michelin chefs and top brands in Europe needed help creating recipes or bringing their ideas to life, David was their go-to.
The attention to detail runs deep – everything is made in house. The cookies, custards, cakes, and all of the fixings you’ll find in a cup (or cone) of gelato are made by hand at An’s. While doing this can be difficult and time consuming, it ultimately pays off. Rich, creamy, and perfectly balanced, the gelato at An’s definitely lives up to the hype.
When they opened, the customer base was split 50/50. While some people fully embraced the flavors and risks they took, others had to be won over. And that’s just what they’ve been able to do. If you look at the menu at An’s, you will see fruity, creamy, savory, and even vegan flavors jump out at you. Everything there is unique, also extremely well tested, thought-out, and made for eating – not headlines and PR.
“We could do a sea urchin gelato…and could probably get a ton of crazy press. But when you start doing that kind of stuff, the focus is no longer on the quality and approachability”, says Kris. Their steadfast dedication to “making the absolute best gelato that anyone’s ever had” is what keeps people coming back.
Embracing the community also means offering options for everyone. Finding vegan gelato in San Diego can be hard, or it can mean that menu options are limited to sorbets and fruit flavors. That is not the case at An’s, where the vegan flavors shine just as bright as the rest. “If you didn’t tell me which ones were vegan, I probably wouldn’t know”, said Kris. The team at An’s didn’t originally have plans to make so many vegan options, but the requests piled in and they obliged. While vegan gelato may be less than traditional, it was just another challenge to overcome. David, the aforementioned gelato genius, dove deep into dairy substitutes in order to bring vegan options to An’s.
In a time of uncertainty, business closures, and employee layoffs, An’s found a way to safely open for their employees. The question became “how can we take care of the staff and what can we do for them?”. In a creative move, the team at An’s upped their social media presence by showing a behind-the-scenes look at their gelato-making process. They made pints, took orders online, and people lined up outside all day long on Saturdays to pick up their orders.
The community reaction was so overwhelmingly positive that they had to get an extra freezer to store all of their orders and even ran out of pint containers. Hundreds of orders poured in throughout the week from people eager to get their hands on a pint of gelato. Manually writing down every individual order was a new challenge for the team, but one that paid off. An’s was able to stay open during the pandemic and pay it back to their employees.
When I asked Kris what his customers may not know about An’s, he talked about how painstaking the gelato-making process is. “When you come in and taste one of our gelatos and it’s good, that’s because we’ve made it ten times before anyone’s had it…We spend a lot of time, we really really care about the experience [customers] have when they come into the shop, and that takes a lot of behind-the-scenes efforts – and [laughs] it’s painful sometimes”.
It’s abundantly clear that the team behind An’s holds so much passion not just for the gelato that they’re serving, but for the community that has given so much to them in return. The entire experience, starting from when you first set eyes on the shop, until your last bite of gelato, has been meticulously crafted to bring joy every step of the way.
