Carlo Gatti (1817-1878) came to London from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland in 1847 and began his business selling refreshments from a stall. The stall sold a kind of waffle sprinked with sugar, and chestnuts in winter. He lived in Holborn where there was an Italian community, including some relatives of his. By 1849 he had built up his business and was ready to go into partnership with Battista Bolla, also from Switzerland. This was a café and restaurant - a rare thing at the time. They added chocolate to their range, imaginatively putting a machine for making it in the shop window. Gatti may have been the first, or one of the first, to offer ice cream for sale to the public. We know that Gatti cut ice from the Regent's Canal under a contract with the Regent's Canal Company.
At the great Exhibition in 1851 Gatti and Bolla exhibited their chocolate making machine. It was not their own invention but imported from France, but a novelty in London at that time. Queen Victoria herself may have seen it there. In the same year Carlo Gatti established a stand in Hungerford Market, near Charing Cross. He sold pastries and ices in little shells. The Penny Ice caught on rapidly and Gatti was at the forefront of selling ice cream to the ordinary man or woman, who had previously been unable to afford a taste of such luxury. In Hungerford Market too, Gatti established a continental style café modelled on those in Paris, and suitable for a family. The business empire continued to develop but in 1854 Hungerford Market was burnt down in a huge fire. Fortunately Gatti had taken out insurance, which was relatively unusual.
