Nathalia Durval
“We don’t speak, but we understand each other.” A sign with these words at the entrance of Il Sordo sums up the ice cream shop, which opened last month in Pinheiros, well. There, all the employees there, from those who make the gelato to those who welcome the public, are deaf.
Videos shown on a television and posters teach customers how to order using Libras, sign language, how to enter the size of the ice cream and the payment method. Customers can also point to the desired options and a tablet is available to write and assist with communication.
Ice cream from Il Sordo, an ice cream shop in Pinheiros –
“I call this reverse accessibility. It’s not them who have to adapt, it’s the customers”, says André Vasco, one of the partners. “It’s cool to see people trying to speak in Libras. It’s an immersion in a universe that people often haven’t had contact with.”
Vasco, who is a presenter and was once an MTV VJ, discovered a hearing loss in 2015. During a trip to Aracaju (SE), he discovered the ice cream shop founded by Breno Oliveira, who has been deaf since birth. He decided to bring Il Sordo to the capital of São Paulo, together with a third partner, Felipe Paladino. The business, created eight years ago, has a branch in Salvador (BA).
To open the new unit, the hired employees – many of them in their first job – received training ranging from pasta production to spatulation.
The ice creams are made in a glass-enclosed kitchen and are available in water-based flavors, fruit flavors such as blackberry and soursop, and flavors made with A2 milk, such as fior di latte and the chocolate flavor that bears the house’s name. They come in a cone or cup, from mini (R$16.90) to large (R$34.90).
The menu also lists steccos, a semifreddo (cold dessert) on a stick (R$ 15.90), brownies (R$ 24.90) and pies (R$ 16.90). To drink, there are coffees in partnership with Café por Elas, a company managed only by women.
While tasting the gelato, the silence that prevails inside the place contrasts with the hustle and bustle of Baixo Pinheiros, with loud music, traffic noise and people talking at an exaggerated volume, especially at night.
Source: Folha
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