Valiant is in his senior year at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor this fall, majoring in International Studies/Environment. With his mother hailing from a heavily Italian neighborhood in Queens, New York, Valiant grew up in a household dominated by the food and culture of Italy. It was at a young age that Valiant’s parents first saw signs of his gelato greatness. At the age of four, Valiant walked on his own initiative to the local market, acquired the proper ingredients and produced a gelato so flavorful, that it garnered the attention of food critics across the world. New York Times food columnist and prolific chef Mark Bittman wrote in an article published in 1998 that Valiant was a prodigy, “a youth whose talent and penchant for gelato was rivaled only by that of Mozart, after writing his first symphony at age 8.”
Valiant took 12-years off of crafting his now globally recognized gelato, to pursue a career in International Studies, however he has recently returned to the game working as a gelatista at Iorio’s, a turn of events that has food critics and gelato aficionados chomping at the bits for the chance to sample the famed Italian desert.
Samantha is from a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois. She is currently studying psycholgy at the University of Michigan and also on the women’s basketball team. When she is not in class or at the gym, she is working and eating lots of gelato at the best gelato place in the world, Iorio’s! You will surely know when she is working when you come in and feel super short. She is 6’4 and often gets asked if the floor is raised behind the gelato case or if she really is as tall as she looks. The answer is yes and you should come see for yourself and get some delicious gelato of course!
Emily B was born and raised outside Atlantic City, NJ and is finishing her senior year at the University of Michigan. She fist-pumped her way out to Ann Arbor to major in Sport Management and is currently looking to break into the sport industry after graduation. Emily grew up on the beach and definitely misses the feeling of sand between her toes and the sound of the waves, but sitting on her porch swing with great book or strolling through Kerrytown with a cup of Lavender Honey gelato from Iorio’s is a pretty good substitute. One of her goals in life is to visit every baseball stadium in the country – which one should she go to next?!
Sam is from Iron Mountain Michigan and is currently a senior at The University of Michigan, concentrating in Programs in the Environment and English with a sub-concentration in Creative Writing. He was raised on homemade Italian gnocchi, ravioli, pizelle, and has added gelato to his list of favorite Italian foods in the meantime. Sam enjoys being outdoors; camping, hiking, and kayaking are a few of his favorite activities besides serving (and eating) gelato. Look for Sam smiling, while doing his best to learn Italian. His passion for frozen treats and coffee makes the Italian Coffee flavor, with real bits of coffee, his favorite. . .That is until Iorio’s starts serving affogado!
Emily hails from the nearby suburb of Novi, MI. This fall she began her sophomore year at the University of Michigan. She is currently studying business with plans of attending law school after graduation. Though she was raised on pierogi, kielbasa, and sauerkraut (sour-kraut as she calls it), the traditional Polish cuisine was never able to satisfy her strong sweet tooth. She thanks the Italians for their creation of gelato and nutella, saving her from the ills of sour-kraut. When not at Iorio’s, class, or busily studying away, Emily can be found singing with the Women’s Glee and her A cappella (Italian for chapel!) group or engaged in community service. Her sweet tooth and love of nutella strongly recommends the Bacio(dark chocolate hazelnut) gelato!
Ben comes from a galaxy far, far away known as Novi, Michigan, and by far, far away he means twenty minutes up the road. He is at the University of Michigan in search of the meaning of life, aiming to do so by studying Biochemistry. His goal is to become a doctor. On campus, Ben can be seen on re-runs of WOLV TV’s Newsfeed, anchoring and reporting. He is also the Vice President of the American Medical Student Association’s Pre-med campus chapter, where he leads and learns. Product and People are Ben’s focuses at Iorio’s, and he hopes to connect the two by serving you a delicious Italian experience!
Carrie spent most of her childhood in the back seat of a white 1994 Suburban (otherwise known as the “Pichan Ice Cream Bus”) as her family traveled to far-away destinations in search of the world’s best frozen treats. During those formative years, she not only developed a meticulously refined palate, but also perfected the art of napping – a skill that came in quite handy during her year abroad in siesta-phile Spain. Wanting to be everything from a bell pepper farmer to the President of the United States while growing up, Carrie has settled on the Romance Languages, figuring that studying Spanish and Italian is the most direct path toward a lifetime of naps and gelato. After graduation from the University of Michigan this spring, Carrie hopes to do something with her life (suggestions welcome!) Until then, you can find her basking in the compulsive repositioning of gelato scapes at Iorio’s. Come say “Ciao!”
Katie spends her time listing the different cities in which a great gelato franchise could be made. For instance, she sees the need for many a gelato shops in various African cities and the Siberian wilderness. However in the time in which she is not able to set up said Gelaterias, Katie goes to Community High School, with some of her favorite classes being Journalism and Algebra. Eventually she would like to proceed to become one of the finest gelato aficionados of her generation. Yet for now, she will continue to serve gelato at Iorio’s and to build up her knowledge of frozen Italian treats.
Lisa isn’t your ordinary gelatista (though really, who is?). She knows gelato like a Michigander knows how to shovel snow – really well. Traveling to Italy has been her greatest cultural experience, so much that her friends know every little detail from all her stories (she is also known for collecting the greatest number of gelato spoons of anyone on her trip). In her plentiful free time as an anthropology student, Lisa likes drinking coffee, learning about foreign cultures, and going on crazy adventures with friends. Her life goal is to figure out why Italians demand exact change in all purchases.