Hello, 'Lifers! While making final preparations for my upcoming trip to Italy, it dawned on me that I should ask this community of ours for some suggestions on the MUST SEE Cioccolatieri! Specifically, I'll only be travelling around on a tight schedule after doing some coursework there, so "unfortunately," I'll be limited in my travels to the following places: Turin, Milan, Venice, Florence, and Rome, so I'm only looking for reccomendations for these cities. Furthermore, I'm fairly knowledgeable on the scene in Torino, so no need to mention Gobino, etc - unless there's a relatively unknown cioccolatiere or a specific confection (beyond gianduotti and bicerin) that I must know about. Also, feel free to shout-out your favorite Gelato or Caffe experiences - they'll be well received, I assure you.

Finally, I'll link the 4 forum/blog posts on this site that I've read already, so you won't have to link me to them (though please link any I missed here or elsewhere).

GRAZIE!

https://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/blog/153/the-best-coffee-and-gelato-in-all-of-rome

https://www.thechocolatelife.com/roxanne-browning/blog/501/inspiring-journey-to-italy-from-the-north-to-sicily-for-old-new-chocolates-wines

https://www.thechocolatelife.com/vera-hofman/blog/397/visiting-turin-the-chocolate-capital-of-italy-and-the-cioccola-to-festival-march-1-5-2012

https://www.thechocolatelife.com/su/blog/154/ah-italy-the-foodthe-chocolate

Bonus Question: I'm assuming I can pick up some of my favorites that I won't be able to visit (ie, Domori and Amedei) at EATALY, but if this is not true, or there is a better chocolate store that carries stock from multiple makers, please guide me towards the light! Thanks, again!

Do not rely on Eataly! I have been disappointed in the selection everywhere I've been - Milan and Turin (two locations).

In Turin if you don't know Gerla - home to some of the only hand-cut gianduia you can buy - go. It's a short walk from Porta Nuova. Pepino is highly thought of for Gelato, and I visited Miretti and I can personally vouch for the gelato there. For lunch, try il Vicolo - the risotto selection is astounding.

In Rome - well that's covered in the post you cited.

IF you can find some GARDINI gianduja with cherries I will gladly pay you for a bar and to ship it to me when you get back.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

Great! Thanks, Clay!

Just an update, for those who may search this topic in the future:

Based on Clay's endorsement, I contacted Gardini to find out where their products were sold. They said Eataly, which I'll be going to at some point for the experience outside of chocolate anyway, but the real gem came in the form of the only other option they mentioned: la Rinascente. Like Eataly, la Rinascente has multiple locations in all the major cities, but they are considered a department store (and fashion is the focus) rather than a food or grocery store. However, judging by their website, their chocolate game is on point. The chocolate section of the site (linked below) not only shows all the brands they carry, but also which stores stock each brand! Moreover, there are some other Italian brands I had not heard about mentioned on the site as well. Now, not only do I know where to find the brands I was looking for, but also what to do in Milan on a Monday! Perfetto! 

https://www.rinascente.it/rinascente/en/W0010/W0304/W1955/food/packed-chocolate/gardini/

Enjoy!

I've been to the Eataly in Milan and Turin several times and never saw Gardini. If it's there now - that's new. And welcome.

The Eataly in Milan - when I was there last - was in the basement of a ... department store!

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

OK, back in in the USSA [sic] and ready to report. The best offerings I found (regarding wide, quality selection- not individual stores of makers) were at Eataly in Torino/Turin and La Rinasciente in Milano.

First, when I speak of the Eataly in Torino, I'm speaking of the HUGE (once you find the alcohol section downstairs, almost doubling the square footage) grocery located in the Lingotto area of Torino - a 5 minute Metro ride from Porta Nuova (main train station); NOT the smaller one in the center of town, which is focused more on the restaurant aspect of their business model. They have a lovely selection of pretty much everyone except Amedei. Their Domori selection was the biggest I saw in Italy, and they had Gardini, too; I managed to buy the LAST TWO, gold-medal-winning cherry giandujia cremino. (If I don't get an email in the next few days, I'll contact you, Clay; tempting as it is, I won't eat yours.) Pro-tip: skip the Gelato there and head to Grom, Orso (especially here for espresso! They actually had 7 mono-origins and 2 blends- separate grinders and all!), or Marchetti (Pepino is OK, though more historical than presently enriching, imo).

Then, La Rinascente's literal penthouse of food is definitely worth checking out in Milan. The chocolate section is a step-down from the first option mentioned, though they had a bunch of Gardini's aforementioned treat as well as Pacari (multi-award winner from Ecuador), which was a nice detour. Their selection is pretty clogged with chocolates that are less worthy of your time - whereas the Eataly of Lingotto had tons of top quality on top of the "lesser" quality. Even if you have no intention of buying chocolate here, it's worth the multiple escalator rides to the top to have a nice lunch on the outdoor patio, where you're seated a small leap (no jumping allowed ) from the roof of the beautiful Duomo.

Feel free to ask any other questions should you seek info on Italia; I visited all (I think...so many!) Cioccolatieri in Torino, and tons of Gelatieri as far south as Rome.