Small ice cream shops in Rome are getting a boost thanks to Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling novel and film "Eat Pray Love". Fans from around the world are flocking to Rome in search of the ultimate gelato experience.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do - and eat ice cream.

That's what writer Elizabeth Gilbert did on her year of self-discovery while travelling around the globe.

Now, a few years later and after a bestselling book and film, the author's fan base does so too.

First stop: the San Crispino gelateria.

Named after a saint and naturally tasting heavenly, the ice cream shop was already a password for gelato purists before being enshrined in "Eat Pray Love."

While playing just a small part in the movie, gelato is getting a big boost from the film's ads.

Unlike other ice cream stores in Rome, which display a riot of colors and textures of gelati brimming in display tubs to set customers salivating, San Crispino keeps the flavors of the day in 22 "pozzetti," or metal tubs covered with shiny lids.

Pairings of flavors are chalked in on a blackboard entitled the "San Crispino Experience" to help "guide" customers.

On this boiling hot August day, the combos include hazelnut meringue, white fig and cream, pink grapefruit, and chocolate and rum, as well as the classic pairing that so impressed Gilbert -- San Crispino honey with ginger-cinnamon.

San Crispino devotees are delighted when they find their grail of gelato.

For Italians, gelato is more than a sweet treat.

Romans are known to be loyal to their gelaterie the way they grow up with lifetime loyalties to one or the other of their local soccer teams.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments