Gelato cart serves up tasty treats in South Blue Hill
Trecey Chittenden says she’ll keep her roadside gelato cart open for a few more weeks, “as long as the sun is shining.” Photo by Jenna Lookner.
By Jenna Lookner
BLUE HILL— A roadside cart on Falls Bridge Road is dishing up a sweet treat: organic gelato.
In late 2024, Trecey Chittenden launched Tree & Sea Artisanal Gelato—the name partially inspired by her own name, pronounced “Tree-sea.”
Born in California and raised in Hawaii and New Hampshire, Chittenden moved to South Blue Hill to join her extended family in 2022. A one-woman-show, Chittenden owns and operates the business, a regularly occurring pop up at 306 Falls Bridge Road next to Central Hall. She plans to stay open with gelato and her signature cookie sandwiches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 1:30 until about 5 p.m. “as long as the sun is shining,” and plans to be open through October or early November, weather permitting.
Chittenden spent time in the Caribbean and Europe and returned to California and worked in the restaurant industry.
“I started out at the front of the house and then started to kind of help out in the kitchen,” she said. “That is when I started to realize my propensity for food.”
Chittenden’s background includes a stint in culinary school in California where she quickly saw her skills and talents were overshadowed by her dyslexia and difficulty with written tests.
“My practicums were great,” she said. Chittenden left the program with a mix of inspiration and frustration, but later began working at a retreat in Petaluma, where she quickly became kitchen manager.
“That’s where I learned about food magic,” she said. “I’ve not been formally trained so I was able to experiment.”
After 38 years in California, Chittenden moved to Blue Hill where her family resides.
“It was a whole life change thing,” she said.
One day, while driving to Portland, she had her food cart epiphany.
“It was hot and I saw ‘ice cream, ice cream, ice cream’ everywhere, but no gelato,” she said.
Inspired by her memory of a small California gelato shop that she loved, Chittenden began experimenting with recipes and flavors.
Gelato is made using a greater ratio of milk to cream than ice cream and has a less robust fat content. It is also served at a slightly warmer temperature than ice cream, she said.
“I said, ‘I am going to work it and get it how I want it to be,’” she said. “There was tons of trial and error but I finally figured out the combination.”
Chittenden uses local ingredients including peaches, raspberries and blueberries that she harvests from her home or other family property. She buys organic milk from Maine farms and sources vanilla beans and other ingredients from assorted purveyors. Chittenden also said she uses coconut milk in many of her flavors.
In 2023, Chittenden had been sharing pints with friends and neighbors for critiques. She held a gelato tasting the same year and invited locals, asking for feedback. She sourced a cart that has a unique configuration that allows it to stay freezer-cool for up to 14 hours without an electricity source.
Chittenden uses her vehicle and a trailer to transport her cart. While she largely serves from her Blue Hill spot, she was asked to be a vendor at the Blue Hill Wild Blueberry Festival in August. She has also set up at the Sedgwick-Brooklin Historical Society and Atlantic Boat Company.
Still, she enjoys her location beside Central Hall.
“In general, I like the ‘if you build it they will come,’ mentality,” she said.
Current flavors include traditional favorites and specialty flavors like a herbaceous peach basil. Cookie sandwiches are made on “great big cookies,” in flavors like salted tahini, Nutella shortbread and ginger.
“I really love the creativity and the artistry of making the product,” she said. “Most people get that there’s really a lot of love and attention in this gelato.”
Chittenden offers scoops, pints and cookie sandwiches at her cart. Customers can also purchase pints from her directly by calling 415-298-0331.
