Pidapipó Laboratorio Fitzroy

Pidapipó Laboratorio Fitzroy is the experimental side of Melbourne gelato maker Pidapipó: a sleek Fitzroy space where new flavours are developed before being produced fresh each day across the group’s stores. Gelato remains the focus, made by hand in small batches with seasonal ingredients, traditional Italian methods and no artificial colours or flavourings. The result is a venue built around careful preparation rather than a fixed, unchanging menu, with flavours that can evolve with the seasons.

There is more to explore than gelato alone. The Fitzroy Laboratorio also produces Pidapipó’s single-origin chocolate in-house, using cacao from the Dominican Republic. The wider range includes handcrafted gelato cakes, chocolate bars and coated chocolate products, all developed with the same emphasis on small-batch production and ingredient quality. The chocolate range was created by co-founder and chef Lisa Valmorbida with Maestro Cioccolatiere Arno Backes, following months of testing and experimentation at the Fitzroy site.

The Pidapipó story began with Lisa Valmorbida’s training at Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, followed by work in Italian gelaterias before she returned to Melbourne. She and her brother Jamie first opened a pop-up in Carlton, then established the Lygon Street flagship and expanded to Windsor, the CBD and Fitzroy. The name comes from a game taught by their nonno, reflecting the family’s view that food should encourage play and connection. That sense of warmth sits alongside the technical side of the Laboratorio, where recipes are balanced for texture and flavour and new ideas are tested.

This is a natural stop for gelato regulars, chocolate lovers and anyone interested in how a familiar treat is made. It can work as a quick solo visit, a casual outing with children or a relaxed catch-up built around choosing a flavour and trying something from the chocolate range. Pidapipó also says its stores offer complimentary taste tests, which makes the Fitzroy venue particularly suited to visitors who want to compare flavours before settling on a scoop. Seasonal collaborations, workshops and limited releases appear throughout the brand’s journal, so the offering may change over time.