Orlandis Sell Noci Gelato, New Owner Hopes to Expand

The new owner of has two seemingly polar forces on his mind as he takes over the popular downtown gelato shop: change and stability.

On one hand, longtime food industry exec Michael Friedman plans to expand Noci to 2-3 locations, particularly in his hometown of Lafayette. But on the other, he says that the shop that longtime owners Michael and Liana Orlandi created is a gem and he’s not going to fix what isn’t broken.

“I really don’t want to change anything,” Friedman said. “A guy who walks into a business that’s working and makes major changes is an idiot. Everything will remain the same, but we’re looking to grow just a little bit.”

Friedman bought the shop from the Orlandis in April but Liana Orlandi stayed on through the end of May to ease the transition. Now Friedman has the reins and is looking for input on where to expand Noci, which opened as Cici in June 2007. He’s looking for locations in “parallel markets with similar progressive values,” Friedman says.

For the Orlandis, they decided that it was time for Noci to expand and that they weren’t the ones to take on such a venture.

“Our goal when we opened was to bring high-quality, artisanal and healthy gelato and ice cream to our hometown,” Liana Orlandi says. “We feel like we achieved that goal, and this business is ready for the next step. We weren’t interested in owning multiple locations, and we wanted to bring somebody in who wanted to take that next step. Michael is the perfect person to do that.”

Friedman was born and raised in Palo Alto and has had a wide-ranging career in the food business. He spent several years at wine and spirits giant Brown Forman, where he ran the Fetzer wine business and the organic Bonterra wine brand. Friedman is also the former chief marketing officer at Diamond Foods.

He met the Orlandis at the Eat Real festival two years ago and reconnected with them through a broker last year when he found out they were looking to sell.

“It all came together and it’s been great so far,” Friedman said. “But the bottom line for customers is that nothing is changing. Janet is still here making gelato and the product won’t change.”