Running Buddies Open Gelato Café Serving Yummy Mao Shan Wang Sorbet & Cinnamon Cones

“In March 2020, all my coaching work stopped. I had to find income somehow,” Jee Keng says. “The Covid-19 pandemic was a real wake-up call. I knew that I had to diversify my skill set and learn new things.”

Despite having only limited exposure to the world of F&B as a teenager – occasionally helping out his late father who used to cook at Nam Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant in Upper Thomson, a longstanding restaurant managed by his uncle – he decided to venture into the world of gelato. “I didn’t want to go into Chinese cuisine, and I was looking into desserts. I found the history and science behind gelato-making very interesting, and the more research I did, the more I liked it.”

That said, he admits that creamy gelato does sound a little weird for an athletics coach to peddle. "It's always a fair balance when we talk about working out and having cheat days," he says. "But remember. The best motivation for exercising is not only about getting fit – but eating without getting fat."

For the uninitiated, gelato is an Italian-style ice cream that contains less air and is therefore denser (with more ingredients), but also softer and silkier with a marked elasticity compared to regular ice cream. It also contains less fat on average, thanks to a higher milk-to-cream ratio.

While working part-time as a private hire vehicle driver to make ends meet, he began experimenting at home with a small $500 gelato machine. “I bought a lot of recipe books on Amazon Prime. I even emailed some chefs – they’d recommend their books to me too,” he shares.

He spent about six months and an estimated $5K on perfecting his recipes, which included “a lot of trial-and-error and [gelato] café hopping” once the circuit breaker period was over, before making the decision to open a proper gelato café.

Along the way, Jee Keng roped in his running buddies Evan and Andrew, whom he’s known for more than a decade. “When he shared his idea for a gelato café, it got all of us very excited,” Evan says. “We felt that we could use our strengths to create some sort of synergy.”

Though Jee Keng and his partners were “concerned, 100 percent” about starting a business mid-pandemic, he reasons that “the quality of the gelato is the most important. If customers have a good first experience, they’ll come back.”

“Pandemic or not, I don’t think there’s ever a ‘right time’ to start a business. You can never be too certain of anything until you execute it,” he adds.

The trio sank some $100K into their business in all, including renovations for their minimalist-chic 23-seater space – dominated with white walls, wood-accented furniture and warm mood lighting. The café is meant to be a reflection of its namesake – evocative of the tranquility of a forest during winter. “I was inspired by a trip to Tokyo about three years back,” Jee Keng muses. “I was having a matcha ice cream in the dead of winter – it was very memorable. I’m trying to recreate that feeling.” Though the decor isn’t especially reminiscent of a winter wonderland, the comfy, tranquil vibes are inviting enough for you to linger over your scoops of gelato.

He figures that the recently unveiled Lentor MRT station – itself surrounded by parcels of land to be developed into residential and commercial properties – would place Winterwoods in good stead to capture the cafe-hopping market in a few years’ time.

In the meantime, business is beginning to pick up speed, with a few regulars from around the area – though it was subsequently dampened when dining at restaurants and cafes were cut back down to two on September 27. “As a new business, cash flow is definitely an issue. Two pax [dining in] is not too bad, though we’re already losing business from the families who come as three or more,” Jee Keng shares.

To shore up sales, they’ve begun to experiment with insulated bags for gelato deliveries. “We want to be sure the gelato will be just as good [as dining in] before doing any kind of delivery,” he adds.

Though his partners (who are still employed full-time) pop by whenever they’re needed, it’s Jee Keng who comes in every morning to churn gelato (which also means that he hasn’t had nearly as much time for running since opening the café). “Hopefully, once everything can run on its own, I might return to coaching,” he adds. “Though it’s too early to say what our ultimate goals are for now.”

He’s usually joined by part-timers closer to the gelataria’s opening time at noon, who help to serve customers. We try seven of Winterwoods’ current selection of 18 gelato flavours, around a quarter of which are vegan-friendly. To accompany your frozen treats, expect freshly-made cinnamon powder-scented cones ($1.50), buttermilk waffles ($4.50 for plain; $5 for dark chocolate) and a selection of beverages including housemade cold brew coffee.

An inspired take on the popular black glutinous rice dessert, which made it onto the menu for one reason: “It’s my family’s favourite – especially my wife,” says Jee Keng. We enjoy the coconut milk-tinged number, as the grains of black glutinous rice offer a burst of nuttiness against the creamy lusciousness of the vegan-friendly frozen treat.

Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for these two flavours (coincidentally paired on a cinnamon cone above). The scoop above is a combination of coconut milk and water, grated coconut and biscuits, while the second is a simpler mix of mango puree and coconut milk that’s also vegan-friendly. We prefer the former, which packs a pleasant textural crunch thanks to the biscuit crumbs – though we couldn’t really find any of the grated coconut.

However, both flavours are a little too sweet for our liking. The mango gelato in particular gets jelak quickly. But we love the crisp cinnamon cone with its light, enticing fragrance from the spice. A worthy foil for the café’s gelatos, though perhaps it’s better paired with something milder.

Unusually, the café’s durian flavour is made into a sorbet (a lighter concoction comprising just fruit and sugar) instead of the usual gelato. This means it stars just pure mao shan wang puree, without the milk or cream found in a gelato. “I didn’t want to dilute the mao shan wang flavour,” Jee Keng tells us. It works rather well – there’s enough puree within the mix to give the sorbet a rich, creamy mouthfeel (not unlike, well, good durian gelato) and a lick of punchiness from the king of fruit. Gloriously bittersweet with a lingering, shiok pungency.

Think of this as avocado-coconut smoothies a la Mr Coconut in gelato form, except less sweet, with a stronger hint of buttery grassiness from the avocado. It also comes with slivers of vegan dark chocolate that provide an extra hit of bitter complexity to it all. Vegan-friendly, and quite delish.

Even yummier however, is the bitter gianduja gelato. The term gianduja refers to an indulgent Italian chocolate spread fortified with hazelnut puree that resembles Nutella, though usually thicker and richer thanks to a higher concentration of nuts. Winterwoods’ take is super velvety and denser than the other flavours we sampled. It’s a lovely, distinctively chocolatey number (Jee Keng uses choc chips with around “70 percent” cocoa content) well-balanced against the perfume from the hazelnut.

Meanwhile, the dark chocolate-spiked buttermilk waffles ($5) are a bit too crunchy and airy rather than fluffy-crispy. Not bad, but we’d opt for the cinnamon cone to go with the lighter flavours like the avocado coconut stracciatella – or shell out extra for another scoop of that divine gianduja gelato instead, calories be damned.

A whisky-spiked sorbet fashioned from “around 80 percent” dark chocolate couverture and cocoa powder. This slightly icy sorbet is a touch too bitter for our liking, especially once you’ve factored in the malty, astringent notes from the alcohol. Not our fave.

While Winterwoods’ gelato boast the silky, luxe mouthfeel you’d expect from the Italian frozen dessert, some of the flavours are a tad too sweet, or bitter. Give them some time to iron out opening kinks, while zeroing in on flavours that they’ve already perfected — like the surprisingly rich mao shan wang sorbet and delicious chocolate hazelnut gelato. As for accompaniments — go for the unique, fragrant cinnamon cones over the waffles.

Winterwoods is at #01-2665, Blk 603 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5, S560603. Open Tues – Thu, noon – 9pm; Fri – Sat, noon – 9pm. Tel: 8912-9368. More info via Facebook and Instagram.

Photos: Kelvin Chia

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