“Bringing pleasure to the people who walk through the door and allowing them to be a little happier when they leave: that's what motivates me...”. This statement is the manager of Il Dolce Gusto, Alban Ramadani’s, raison d’être. Together with his wife, this ice-cream king heads up this colourful and sweet business, much to the delight of Quartet tenants, residents and tourists staying at the Meininger Hotel, next door.

A family affair...

And for them, ice cream is a serious matter - it's even a family affair! Born into a family of ice-cream makers, Alban uses recipes he has known since he was a child. Training first as a cafetier in Geneva, Alban then took an in-depth course in ice-cream delights in the land of pasta and gelati. He came back from Italy with the desire to “transmit positive energy” with his Italian-style ice creams and to open a convivial place in Geneva.

“My wife and I, we make everything ourselves!” The couple who warm hearts with their ice creams use only local dairy products for their products – which they also sell by the litre, by the way. There are up to 24 flavours to choose from, to suit all our sweet tooths: passion fruit; coffee; hazelnut; strawberry; chocolate, etc. There's also Oreo, unicorn, and bubble-gum ice-cream.

While tastes certainly differ, Il Dolce Gusto has something for everyone!   

To produce his own artisanal ice-creams, Alban didn't have to go far: indeed, the various spaces at QUARTET – designed from the outset to accommodate all kinds of artisan businesses – were just the thing to enable this young jack-of-all-trades to experiment with his recipes in the right quantities. “It's great for my business to have the premises and the lab in the same place – it allows me to produce the ice creams as and when I need them: freshness is guaranteed!”

... and love of the neighbourhood

There's certainly a bit of ice cream in Alban's blood – and the desire to do this job and to please, too. Above all, though, there’s a love of his neighbourhood: for Alban is a child of Les Charmilles. As a youngster, he’d kick a few balls around the stadium, meet up with his friends around the shopping centre, and knew the Hispano-Suisa factory – site where QUARTET now stands. “It's the area I love most in Geneva: it's getting increasingly lively; the people are authentic and eclectic. In the past, they were used to staying indoors, and now – with the shopping centre and my tea room at QUARTET - they're spending more and more time outside! What a pleasure to host them on my terrace.” And the locals certainly aren’t mistaken: their feedback is as warm as the products are cold!

In fact, 5/5:

That is the average Google rating customers (residents, neighbours, tourists, and businesses based in QUARTET) give for Il Dolce Gusto. It's also the number of stars in Alban's eyes when he realises that his generosity is paying off: this summer, he'll be opening his business until 23:00, so that people can come with their families to cool off in the late evening, when the nights are still warm.