Granita is going viral in Toronto right now — here's why, and what it actually is | Daily Hive

Step aside, ice cream and gelato: granita is having a moment in Toronto right now, and there’s one shop in the city to thank for that.

Having opened its doors in 2017 and earned its fair share of accolades, like placing as a finalist for the North American division of the Gelato Festival World Masters in 2024, St. Clair West’s Futura Granita + Gelato is no stranger to the limelight in Toronto.

Still, they’re experiencing something of a second wave of popularity, and that’s all thanks to one part-time employee and the videos she began posting on TikTok while working at the shop this summer.

Futura employee and Toronto-based content creator Paolina Loseto, who goes by the handle @paothebao on TikTok, told Dished Toronto that, while she’s been working for the granita and gelato shop for the past year, she’s been a customer since the very beginning.

Doubling as a freelance digital producer who documents Toronto’s food scene, Loseto, a self-described gelato fanatic (her father, Lorenzo Loseto, just so happens to head up George Restaurant’s Alberobello Gelato), spends the weekends scooping at Futura while she juggles a burgeoning career in television and her content creation — very quickly, though, she decided to blend her passions for content creation and granita.

Early into her time working at Futura, Loseto began filming and posting TikTok videos of her scooping and sampling granita at the end of her shifts. This summer, people took notice, and the videos began to blow up.

Loseto told Dished Toronto that she had “no intention” of making Futura go viral, or even really advertising them when she first started posting, but was more so “just documenting this period of my life and to stay active on my food social media accounts, since I was spending so much time working and less time eating out at restaurants.”

Nevertheless, that’s exactly what ended up happening, and now, several of Paolina’s granita and gelato-scooping videos have drawn in anywhere between 80,000 and 200,000 views.

Futura owners Lois Kim and Carlo Diano confirm to Dished Toronto that, in addition to increased attention, the videos have directly led to a surge of new clientele to the shop, and, for her part, Loseto agrees.

“The first work shift after my first viral video was overwhelming,” Loseto told Dished Toronto. “I don’t think any of us realized the immediate impact this video would have on the shop, especially since I’d been making these super casual videos every shift for a year with nothing like this happening.”

At the end of that first post-viral day, Loseto says, they had sold out of all but three flavours. Apparently, it was one of the shop’s busiest days in its eight years in business, and things have hardly slowed down since then.

So, all that being said, what, exactly, is granita, and why are people in Toronto fixating on it specifically right now?

You can think of granita as gelato’s dairy-free Italian cousin. Hailing from Sicily, the semi-frozen dessert has a decidedly more slushie-esque texture (and we all know how Toronto has been feeling about slushies these days) and a more refreshing finish than gelato, as it contains only fruit, water and sugar.

“Since there’s no dairy in it, you really get the true profile of the flavour you choose since it doesn’t get cut with milk,” Loseto adds. “So a cup of strawberry granita tastes like you’re eating the most gorgeous ripe strawberries right from a basket.”

As for why granita has been getting so much buzz in Toronto this summer, specifically, Loseto chalks it up to “unfamiliarity.”

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“Gelato, sorbet, and ice cream undeniably dominate the frozen dessert scene [in Toronto],” Loseto told Dished Toronto, so she can only assume, “hearing about something new, accessible, and delicious is exciting!”

While Futura has largely held the monopoly on granita in Toronto for some time now, the dessert’s availability seems to be on the rise, along with its popularity. Mizzica Gelato has begun experimenting with the format in limited quantities, and recent Roncesvalles addition Gelateria Dolce Mia serves it every Sunday, giving the city yet another new option for frosty summertime treats.

If you ask Loseto, though, you’ve got to try it at Futura first.

Futura Granita + Gelato

Address: 964 St. Clair Ave. W.

Phone: 647-812-2131

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