Master gelatier and Paso Robles native Niccolo Lekai's favorite animal isn't the lion, but the beast is emblematic of his Italy-speckled childhood, hence the stylized Lion of Venice stamped on Leo Leo Gelato's pints.

"We just thought that the name had a fun little ring to it," Lekai laughed. "You see the lion being used in Florence, just as a symbol of power. I had to make the lion look a certain way because oftentimes it's used really aggressively with teeth and fangs."

Leo Leo, pronounced layo layo and literally translating to "lion lion," reared its head in Paso Robles in 2010 as a way for then-college graduate Lekai to find his footing in a post-recession economy. While he was in college in San Diego, he worked for a gelato maker on Coronado Island. He became a barista and learned how to scoop gelato, eventually learning how to make it himself and manage the store. But it was networking at a specialty food show in the Bay Area that really kicked Leo Leo into gear.

"I met some people with Technogel, which is a brand of machine that we use. They allowed me at the time to develop my recipes using their floor model that they were demoing out, with the intention of selling it to the California market, Lekai said. "So, I'd make all my samples, come back here [Paso Robles], load up a freezer, drive up to San Francisco. We wound up developing enough of a client base where we felt we had something to stand on."

• Photos Courtesy Of Leo Leo Gelato
• SWEETLY STYLISH Leo Leo Gelato is now available in colorful 8 ounce tubs that bear Lekai's version of the famous Lion of Venice.

With his parents' help, Lekai converted the ground floor of a salmon-pink building in Paso Robles into a production plant. Lekai made the gelato and his father, Andrea, took care of the administration.

Now with 12 employees, Leo Leo also runs a scoop shop at the Paso Market Walk, ships to clients across the country, and has a distributor in Las Vegas.

Lekai's Italian roots shine through in flavors like the stranocciola—a creamy hazelnut flavor with Nutella folded through it—the pannacotta, and the chocolate-studded stracciatella, which are among Leo Leo's more than 50 year-round and 20 seasonal offerings. Lekai said he has created up to 300 flavor recipes, but there's one Holy Grail that continuously eludes him.

"A place that we used to go to when I was a little boy was Badiani's. The owner is Paolo Pomposi. He is my idol. He makes this incredible Buontalenti," he said. "My dream is to try to make this Buontalenti flavor. It's a sweet cream flavor, but my goodness, it is so rich and creamy and smooth. I don't know how to do it."

Lekai explained that it is crucial for him to nail down an effective sweet milk base recipe, which can later be a springboard for more creative flavors. After almost 20 years in the gelato business, he thinks he has finally found his stride, especially with a base that uses locust bean gum as a stabilizer instead of eggs. But while trying to pay homage to Pomposi, Lekai simultaneously understands the need to pay attention to the American sweet tooth.

"I realized that people here don't have that same relationship with Italian flavors that I did growing up. You have to have cookies and cream, cookie dough, and the other American flavors. That's how you can get the attention of our own target market," he said.

Many of Leo Leo's ingredients highlight SLO County's bounty. The honey and lavender come from San Miguel, the caramel trickles in from Grover Beach, the pistachio butter hails from Templeton, and Cal Poly occasionally provides strawberries while the university's cows always supply the milk.

"When I was growing up here, all we had were walnuts and almonds. There were some meat cows like Black Angus but there wasn't the industry like there is today," he said. "Being able to support them is great because when they grow, we grow. It also helps with our supply chain."

The gelateria also collaborates with local businesses to produce themed and seasonal flavors. A union with J. Lohr Wines created a honey-infused chardonnay gelato, and teaming up with Pasolivo resulted in a tangerine olive oil flavor. Currently, Leo Leo is working with Bethel Road Distillery to whip up frosé options.

Such a cooling smorgasbord paired with the Paso Robles heat means that the scoop quickly hits the bottom of the pan, and flavors frequently have to be restocked. Take it from scooper Ava Hughes.

"In the summer we are really pushing our sorbets. This is our high season, especially on weekends and days like today. We'll run out of things pretty fast," Hughes told New Times on a stifling July 9 afternoon.

• Photos Courtesy Of Leo Leo Gelato
• ROOTS IN GELATO Leo Leo Gelato honors its owner's Italian background with the stranocciola flavor—a hazelnut gelato with Nutella folded through it.

Their sorbets are refreshing and punchy, and come in lemon, watermelon, cantaloupe, and pineapple flavors. Hughes' favorite flavor is the blackberry cheesecake gelato and noted that it's one of the top five best sellers. Flavors like pistachio and almond crunch (a collaboration with Paso Almonds) sell out fast, too.

But it's hard not to look away from the fudgey tray of dark chocolate gelato. Hughes' scooper meets it with some resistance, but with persistence the fudge finally bends, forming a creamy sphere. Lekai, who said he doesn't like to compare his products to others, thinks their original chocolate base is "second to none."

Don't want to limit yourself to single, double, or even triple scoops? Leo Leo offers a behemoth feature called Gelato Grrrowlers—a 1.5 quart container that can be purchased at the scoop shop with a first fill for $35. From then on, customers can bring the empty container back for a refill worth $20.

"I'm just passionate about being sustainable. The truth is, though, it's only the big corporations that have the luxury of being able to do those sorts of things. I don't have millions of dollars to pay somebody in a lab to figure out how to make this single-use cup sustainable," Lekai said.

"A lot of inspiration I get comes from conversations like this or over dinner with friends. People will tell me about a flavor that they had in Italy that was wonderful. I'll try to bring that flavor here for people to try." Δ

Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal is dreaming of dark chocolate gelato. Bring her back to earth through [email protected].