The Iconic Rossi's Ice Cream parlour - geograph

Rossi's is a traditional historic ice cream parlour in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, and Weymouth,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The Original Rossi's Ice Cream is located at 12–14 Western Esplanade,

. The Original Rossi ice cream company was brought to Southend on Sea in 1931 by Massimiliano Agostino Rossi, known as Agostino, and his wife Anna. His first shop was at 37 High Street Southend on Sea. By 1932 he had opened shops at 1 Marine Parade and 12-14 Western Esplanade. In 1937 he was joined by his wife's cousin Pietro Rossi who took over the running of the shops at Marine Parade and Western Esplanade. Meanwhile, Massimiliano opened another shop at 99 Southend High Street. Rossi's Ices is also located at 92 The Esplanade, Weymouth, facing

Weymouth Bay Weymouth Bay is a sheltered bay on the south coast of England, in Dorset. It is protected from erosion by Chesil Beach and the Isle of Portland, and includes several beaches, notably Weymouth Beach, a gently curving arc of golden sand which str ...

. It was founded in 1937 by an Italian immigrant, Fioravanti Figliolini and has remained open continuously apart from a brief period during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The premises feature original 1930s decor and were

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

in 1997 as part of the Royal Arcade. As of April 2021, Rossi Ice cream (Southend-on-Sea) Ltd is now owned by Essex based entrepreneur James Sinclair.

History

In the 1920s, Fioravanti Fioravanti immigrated with his brother Peter and his wife Pasqua to England from

Cantù Cantù (; Brianzöö: ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Como, located at the center of the Brianza zone in Lombardy. It is the second largest city in Brianza. History The name could stem from that of the Canturigi, a population of ...

, Lombardy, north of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. They initially traded as the Figliolini Brothers in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

, before joining forces with Toni Rossi another immigration entrepreneur. In 1937, they were looking for new premises and decided to establish another ice cream parlour in the Royal Arcade at Weymouth, in four old shops. Fioravanti eventually took over the franchise from Toni Rossi but remained trading under 'Rossi's'. He set up his own ice cream parlour "Rossi's" on The Esplanade at Weymouth.

Modern day

Rossi Ice Cream is still manufactured in Southend-on-Sea and supplies Rossi parlours, supermarkets, theatres and attractions around the UK.

In popular culture

In 2012, to coincide with the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

that featured sailing events in Weymouth Bay, the establishment was included in the Weymouth version of the

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

board game.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 50, 36, 50, N, 2, 27, 11, W, dim:500_region:GB, display=title 1937 establishments in England Restaurants established in 1937 Ice cream parlors Buildings and structures in Weymouth, Dorset Tourist attractions in Weymouth, Dorset Restaurants in Dorset Grade II listed buildings in Dorset Ice cream brands Buildings and structures in Southend-on-Sea Restaurants in Essex

History

Modern day

In popular culture

See also

References

External links