A major Hollywood actor has raised eyebrows after being spotted at Gelato Messina in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley with an unusual order.
The Oscar nominee, currently in Queensland filming his latest comedy-drama Honeymoon with Harry, bypassed the usual ‘cup or cone’ dilemma and ordered what is known as a ‘unicorn’ at the Brisbane store.
Photos shared by the official Gelato Messina Instagram account show the actor in CCTV footage wearing a simple white T-shirt, clutching a cup of gelato topped with an upside-down cone.
A staff member shared a still image from the footage to the brand’s internal Slack channel.
Messina’s social team then went into full detective mode to figure out exactly what was going on, posting a grainy, zoomed-in snap of the actor’s hand with the caption: “Us zooming in to see what he got”.
Sharing an even closer photo, they labelled the unusual sight: “????”
The brand later posted a “boots on the ground” update after checking in with local staff to confirm the A-lister’s specific order.
The staff confirmed that the actor “loves a unicorn,” a serving style that places a cone on top of a cup to get the best of both worlds.
The actor also reportedly went for a mix of Bounty (coconut and chocolate) and Macadamia Crunch.
He was also seen leaving with two 1L tubs to take home, proving he’s well and truly making the most of the beloved gelato shop while down under.
The unicorn isn’t an official menu item, but Messina has confirmed it’s a secret hack for those who can’t decide between a cup and a cone.
“Unicorns have always been a secret menu item that customers can order from any of our stores — order any scoop in a cup and ask for a cone on top,” a Messina spokesperson told news.com.au.
“Less mess, extra crunch, more fun. Unicorns are popular for our customers that have been with us since the beginning (2002) and great for kids.”
The spokesperson also added that the store staff were “star-struck” when the actor came in but “played it cool”.
The unicorn is a popular order in warmer states like Queensland, letting customers enjoy their gelato without it melting down their arms.
Online, it seems a few others are in on the secret.
“This is what we do too, as they don’t charge extra for the cone,” shared one on Reddit.
And on TikTok, a diehard Messina fanatic posted about the ‘if you know, you know’ tip, sharing a series of photos of them trying out the unicorn.
“I’m an ice cream fiend and my biggest lifehack: Get a unicorn!” Shannon Nutt wrote.
“If you go to Messina, you can get a cone on top of your cup so you don’t have to rush eating it and you can keep adding little scoops to your cone.”
Ms Nutt added: “It’s just bliss”.
However, others admitted they’d “never heard of it” but were now keen to try it out.
“It seems a bit childish, like a kid who can’t decide – but to be honest, I reckon it’s kind of genius,” one admitted.
It seems our international guests have all the best gelato hacks.
Just last month, British food blogger Ross James Howe shared an “insane” trick to get more bang for your buck at the gelato chain, which has over 30 stores across Australia.
Here’s how it works.
A 500ml tub of Messina is $19, and you can get two flavours.
But if you ask for three scoops in a takeaway cup, they’ll put them in a 500ml tub, and it’ll fill almost to the top. The kicker is that three scoops cost only $10.90.
So you’ll get around 500ml ($19) worth of gelato for $10.90 – saving $8.10.
Naturally, people lost it in the comments.
“GET OUT!” one Messina fan wrote.
“This is good internet use! Well done!” another wrote.
As another added: “No way – I had no idea. Thank you!”
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