EPISODE · Aug 19, 2026 · 23 MIN
Meet the man who has been chasing the world's best gelato since 2011
from North Star with Ellin Bessner
One of Peter Cohen’s favourite gelato shops in the world is San Crispino, in Rome, Italy. It’s among the nearly 2,000 pins on the Montrealer’s personal online World Gelato Map, which he’s been curating as part of his passion—some may call it an obsession—with the frozen treat. For the last 15 years, Cohen has been travelling the world, visiting hundreds of shops, tasting and looking for the best Italian artisanal ice cream. His gelato hobby began in 2011 on a family trip to Italy. Since then, he’s been developing a growing gelato-ratings system that covers shops beyond just Italy: Turkey, Cambodia and many more countries, including about two dozen gelato shops here in Canada. His children think he should monetize his map—but Cohen says he does all this out of a sense of community, and to explore unknown neighbourhoods and meet the gelato-making artisans behind the counters. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner travels to Montreal to sit down with Peter Cohen over some award-winning gelato at Fiore, one of his current favourite shops. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editing), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/north Watch our podcasts on YouTube Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
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Meet the man who has been chasing the world's best gelato since 2011
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