The 300 Flavors in Jon Snyder’s Mind

He founded and sold gelato giant Ciao Bella. But nothing could keep him from getting back in the kitchen and dreaming with ice cream.

Photos by Brad Horrigan

On a Tuesday in late July, Jon Snyder’s day began at four a.m. when he started making batches of mango, espresso and green tea ice cream. Espresso beans cooked slowly in large pots with his base mixture. He prepped for dozens of deliveries to restaurants, caterers and specialty stores in New York City and ran through his usual routine. By eight a.m. he’d hit a snag — a key employee called in sick and the truck broke down. He quickly made alternate plans, loaded a rental van with dry ice and sent the precious cargo on its way.

For some people, the scenario might have caused a mini-meltdown. For Snyder, it’s all in a day’s work as Founder and CEO of Il Laboratorio del Gelato, the handmade ice cream-making business he launched in 2002 from a 550-square-foot storefront on New York’s historic Lower East Side.