Coppetta Gelato
By Jeff Fraga| Photos by Dinah Satterwhite
I scream, you scream
We all scream for gelato?
“Coppetta” means “little cup” in Italian. For Coppetta Gelato owner Casey Tucker, the name embodies the individual care that goes into each “little cup” she makes from scratch—and offers weekly at the Bainbridge Island Farmers Market.
But there’s nothing little about her gelato’s flavor.
That’s because Tucker has been perfecting her recipe for years. She started experimenting with making ice cream back in 2013 —a process greatly streamlined by the addition of a countertop ice cream machine in 2024 — and soon began churning out a variety of different flavors. An experimental flavor using Girl Scout Thin Mints was a wild success—and made Tucker think about making gelato professionally.
“It’s an amazing feeling, to feed people and bring joy through food,” she said. “I threw myself into it. It was joyous, and frustrating, and all the things that ignite something in the back of your head, saying, ‘This could be something really cool.’”
Though still a fan of ice cream, Tucker was drawn to gelato because of its richer, deeper flavor and “phenomenal texture.” She started making gelato at the Fig & Spice commissary kitchen on Bainbridge, where small batches allow her to pay attention to details, such as the ripeness of fruit or the depth of chocolate.
Today, she offers a rotating selection of flavors. One of her biggest hits is her coffee gelato, “The 7:05,” a nod to the early morning ferry—and the caffeine required to get up and catch it. Tucker has been thrilled by the reception so far —and is thinking about expanding her operation beyond the Farmer’s Market.
“People come out and support me, my peers in the commissary kitchen provide endless good advice and try everything (even when it's highly experimental—like a cedar wood grapefruit sorbet),” Tucker said. “I genuinely feel that people want me to succeed, and that's a really fantastic connection I've made with the other islanders.”
>> Coppetta Gelato | Bainbridge Island Farmers Market | 617-584-1306
