There's a gelato place I pass by daily, always with a slight sense of pique: A few years back, in some "Best Of" issue of yore, someone at this paper chose it as their favorite gelato, and the clipping awarding the store this honor is displayed in its window. The gelato's scrumptious, don't get me wrong; it's just not, you know, the best. So to right this egregious injustice (who said journalism's no longer a courageous moral force?), I'd like to bestow this year's title on Gelatiamo and its smooth, vividly flavored creations. The texture comes from the mixing method, which whips in less air than ice cream, and the taste comes from the no-frills recipe, with little getting between you and the flavoring—just cream, milk, and sugar. (Gelato is 9.5 percent milk fat, and no butterfat, as compared to ice cream's 17 percent–20 percent.) Flavorings go heavy on the fresh fruit (blueberry and mango, as well as the usual suspects), with some authentically Italian variations like zabaglione and gianduia. It's Carnival year-round in the pastry display case, too, with big, fluffy cream puffs and tarts filled with bright, gemlike fruits, and the whole place has a kind of chic, zingy Euroflair design. Every Seattle visitor I host gets taken here.—Gavin Borchert 1400 Third Ave., 467-9563, www.gelatiamo.com.