From Melbourne to Manila: Kariton reimagines Filipino flavours through gelato

Duong’s F&B background spans fine-dining institutions such as Shane Delia’s Maha and large-scale production work for events like the Australian Open. His approach to gelato marries both worlds, crafting flavours with a meticulous eye like a pastry chef would a plated dessert, but with the know-how and expertise to deliver the desired result at a huge scale.

When asked why he chose to spotlight Filipino flavours despite being Vietnamese, Duong laughs. “I’m already Vietnamese—why would I want to do Vietnamese flavours, right?” Heussaff interjects: “You say that like it makes sense.”

The exchange is lighthearted but telling. For Duong, Filipino flavours offer both challenge and inspiration, a way to explore beyond his comfort zone. “When I go to restaurants, I like to eat at places where I know I can’t cook the food. That’s when I get inspired,” he explains. Gelato becomes his canvas for that curiosity.

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For Heussaff, Kariton’s arrival in Manila bridges his storytelling work with tangible impact. “With Featr, there was always kind of a frustration,” he says. “We find a lot of cool products, but after we do the documentaries, it kind of stops there.”

Through Kariton, Featr’s discoveries, be it rare fruits or heritage ingredients, can be woven directly into flavours that people can experience and enjoy. “We can tie in what we do digitally, and we can roll it out,” he says. This not only allows their audience to engage with the discoveries they’ve seen onscreen, but also allows Heussaff to give back to the people they’ve featured.

Read more: These are the most iconic Filipino dishes from Negros, Ilocos, Pampanga, and more

Kariton opens in Manila with ten core flavours and two limited-time specials, available in cups, cones or in true Pinoy fashion, sandwiched between pan de sal. Each flavour interprets a memory through a modern lens, with unexpected twists beneath every detail.

A highlight from the classic scoops is the turon: banana gelato with muscovado butterscotch, jackfruit and a candied sesame springroll shard. Also popular is Duong’s take on the beloved ube halaya, spruced up with ube fudge, mulberry jam and coconut latik crunch. Our favourite, however, is the Four Seasons: a fruity and refreshing sorbet of blood orange, pink guava, pineapple and mango.

Duong takes it a step further with their premium selection, featuring flavours like the boozy kalamansi hinebra (calamansi gin sorbet) and decadent champorado, which he admits was the hardest to perfect. “It took me five, six tries to get it right,” he admits. The breakthrough came with buttermilk, which delivered the lactic tang he was chasing. The final version features toasted rice and tablea buttermilk gelato with patis butterscotch, candied cacao nibs and pinipig.

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Even with flavours as basic as vanilla, Duong can’t help but get creative. “We scrape all the vanilla beans into the gelato base, and then we dehydrate the shell so all the smoky flavour comes out,” Duong explains. “We then add that into our milk jam, which goes into the vanilla gelato. It comes out super dark, super custardy.”

Kariton’s limited-edition flavours give guests something to look forward to with every visit. The Cheesemossa, one of their first specials, featured Pampanga’s famous LBS cheese-bread mixed into their fior di latte gelato with kesong puti Basque cheesecake and queso de bola crumble. Meanwhile, the PBJ—made with roasted pili and peanut gelato, polvoron crumble, muscat grape confit and pili nut sauce—has become such a hit that they’ve grown hesitant to take it off the menu. The newest kid on the block? The Cassavahhh: coconut sugar gelato, dehydrated coconut macarons and rich, custardy cassava cake bits.

See also: From beans to black sesame: 10 savoury ingredients used in Asian desserts

Duong’s pastry background shines in Kariton’s cakes and handhelds—frozen desserts that balance nostalgia with technique. “Gelato is kind of like my second career,” he says. “I’m still very much a pastry chef at heart...plated desserts are my speciality—very technical, very flavour-driven.”

There are currently three cakes on the menu, including the crowd-favourite Sans Rival 2.0 or “cashew heaven” as Duong calls it. He keeps the cashew dacquoise more cakey to replicate sans rival’s chewy texture, then sandwiches each layer between cashew praline, burnt caramel, burnt butter semi-freddo and candied cashews.

The star of the handhelds is the Yemabon, inspired by Filipino yema and Australia’s Maxibon: essentially a gelato sandwich with salted egg biscuits, malted milk gelato and miso yema dipped in white chocolate—a surprisingly umami-forward treat.

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Rounding out the menu is the vegan taho soft serve, which is not to be missed. Using silken tofu soft serve as its base, the swirl is adorned with soy milk panna cotta, sago and oolong tea syrup. Not big on taho? You can also opt for the soft serve with salted caramel or Biscoff sauce.

In addition to their frozen treats, Kariton’s Molito shop also offers a coffee menu in collaboration with Black Bridge Coffee in Benguet. Described as bright and nutty with hints of cacao, honey and mountain florals, the proudly local brew is available in classic picks like a long black, Melbourne magic and affogato. After something more unique? Consider the latik latte or banana bread latte.

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While Kariton uses Australian milk as its base, everything else is proudly local: ube from Leyte, pandan and coconuts from Batangas and Quezon, and pili nuts from Sorsogon. Duong aims to eventually shift to a fully local supply as quality and pricing align.

Seasonality is also part of the craft. “In the Philippines, it requires a lot more recipe adapting because we are using fresh fruit, and every fruit has different sugars,” says Duong. “Sometimes it can vary from batch to batch—but I think that’s beautiful.” “We’re super excited for March so we can get the peak Guimaras mangoes,” Heusaff adds.

See also: 7 rare fruits from Asia that look absolutely otherworldly

Barely two months since opening, the team reveals they’ve already got lots of new ideas in the works. Their current roster of scoops barely scrapes the surface of the 200-odd recipes they have at the ready—and that excludes those still in development. Kariton’s forthcoming Salcedo Village home will fill the gap for a late-night dessert spot, introducing cocktails for those seeking a boozy post-dinner treat.

It doesn’t stop there—their next stop after Manila? Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Expect Kariton‘s Filipino signatures alongside new Vietnamese flavours, too.

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