In a Cold Snap, Vancouverites Are Happy to Indulge in Affogato
Espresso poured over gelato is a trend that transcends weather.
It’s a blustery, biting, big-toe-frozen-to-your-Blundstones time of year. Wintery warnings echo everywhere, and all Vancouverites want to do is hunker down in a cozy spot with a nice hot cup of—ice cream?
“Even when the weather is cold and cloudy and crummy, we still have people ordering affogato,” says Giancarlo Cusano, owner of Dolce Amore. He explains that affogato means “drowned” in Italian: “Quite literally, it’s a scoop of gelato that has been drowned in a shot of espresso.” Cusano and his team founded the first location of the beloved gelato shop in 2002 (set to reopen this year after a fire in 2023), and in summer 2023, the Lower Lonsdale location opened, taking a risk on the creamy, caffeinated treat. “We created one of Vancouver’s first affogato bars,” Cusano says.
The owner explains that the original Dolce Amore location, before the fire, was a popular evening spot for the Commercial Drive neighbourhood, particularly those working the closing shift in nearby restaurants. “We somehow found ourselves becoming the place where a lot of people within the industry would come for a late-night scoop,” he says, adding that the shop extended its hours twice (first to 11 p.m., then to midnight). The North Vancouver affogato bar was, in part, born from that late-night Commercial Drive vibe: an after-dinner destination for a scoop and a shot. An espresso shot—and a real shot, if requested: Lolo Dolce Amore has a liquor licence. “We’re not a full-on bar,” the owner notes, “but we can really showcase this cool affogato bar using Continental Coffee and our homemade gelato.”
The team was ahead of the trend. In 2025, affogato has reached viral status, with drool-worthy videos of drowning action populating social media algorithms everywhere. Cusano thinks the affogato phenomenon (affonomenon, if you will) is just part of a larger trend embracing an aspirational Italian way of life. “The spritz has been coming back for the last five years, the negroni is back—this is the same thing… People love that dolce vita. They love all things Italian,” he says with a laugh.
Ordering an affogato is an experience, and it’s one that the Lolo Dolce Amore really makes a sweet meal of. “We want it to be like welcoming you into our living room, join our big Italian family, have a gelato,” the owner says. The process is as transparent as possible to enchant diners (and their social media viewers): the coffee machine is see-through, as are the double-walled glasses. “It’s not like when you go to a coffee shop and the barista’s back is to you,” Cusano says. “It’s really a more interactive and unique experience.”
The owner’s personal favourite affogato is the Italiano: Nicciola (hazelnut) gelato with a shot each of espresso and Frangelico. Other popular options are the Classic (chocolate gelato with espresso and Baileys) and the Correcto (shots of espresso and sambuca poured over tiramisu ice cream).
While Dolce Amore has established the permanent affogato bar, there are lots of other local spots at which to get one. Both Fior Di Latte and Giovane Caffè (on Cordova Street) offer a traditional affogato, and Main Street’s Aperture coffee bar serves a flight: choose three affogato varieties from options like espresso, matcha, London fog, and chai. Guests at the Motoretta and Earnest ice cream shops can make any order of ice cream into an affogato (that said, some combos must be better than others—at Earnest, you can add toppings like Fritos and Fruity Pebbles, so choose your adventure at your own risk).
Cusano says that Dolce Amore customers aren’t just getting affogato in the winter. They’re also ordering them at all times of day. In a sense, the affogato sort of defies categorization: it combines a drink you wake up to and a dessert you generally save for later. “It’s like a cheat code,” he points out. “In the morning, you’re not going to have a scoop of gelato by itself, but if your morning coffee just happens to have a scoop floating inside of it, great. If it’s spiked with a shot of amaretto, even better.”
