Australia’s first self-serve gelato arrives in Brisbane

Why has no one done this before? Because this light and bright Newstead spot, with its 12 flavours and 30 toppings, regularly has queues out the door.

October 28, 2026

Why didn’t someone think of this earlier? That was the general reaction when Andreea Corban and Ilias Vitkind opened Luma in Mooloolaba in December 2025.

We have self-serve yoghurt, self-serve acai – even self-serve fries. Why not self-serve gelato?

“I really don’t know,” Corban says. “But there are so many traditional gelato places. Between us we have around 20 years of knowledge of experience in gelato back in Italy and also here, in Australia.

“You get to know how customers respond to gelato, and we’d often find they’d maybe want a little bit more sauce, for example, or a little bit less. And when we’d make it for ourselves we’d get it just right.

“So we wanted to make this simple concept that customers could really engage with.”

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The Mooloolaba shop was an immediate hit. So much so that just 10 months later, Corban and Vitkind have opened a second shop in Newstead in the LIV Anura building on Skyring Terrace.

The shop presents similarly to its Mooloolaba sibling but designer Barbie Payton of ONYX Studio has expanded on the baby blue colour scheme of the original store with cream vertical finger tiles and banquette seating, and a vivid aquamarine coloured back wall. The flash treatment is complemented by vintage pendant lights and brass fixtures.

At the back is the main event: six Chinese-made Space self-serve ice cream makers that Luma has tweaked for gelato, each pumping out two flavours.

“It’s more premium in a sense because it hasn’t been made offsite,” Corban says. “We pasteurise it, put it in the machine and when you press the handle, it’s essentially fresh-made by the customer.”

Current flavours include fior di latte, Italian hazelnut, Italian pistachio, Biscoff cheesecake, salted caramel, organic minty matcha (a collab with organic tea brand Little Wildling Co), zuppa inglese (inspired by the traditional Italian dessert), tiramisu, peanut butter, dairy-free chocolate, dairy-free mango and dairy-free strawberry.

Corban says to expect two or three of these to change regularly going forward.

The consistency is slightly softer than typical gelato – all the better to get it out the machine – and the flavour on the milder side, perhaps to accommodate for the 30 toppings on offer. These, also, will rotate, Corban says, but might include fresh strawberries, roasted almonds, Hershey’s chocolate sauce and sour cherry jam.

There are no drinks except for sparkling and still water tap.

Luma opened on October 15 and – perhaps to nobody’s surprise – it has been packed for most of its opening hours ever since.

“We didn’t quite know what to expect until we saw it with our own eyes,” Corban says. “We’ve had lines and good vibes, and the radio coming in.

“We knew we had a good product and we have a beautiful shop, so [it’s gratifying] to be busy.”

Open Sun-Wed 10am-10pm, Fri-Sat 10am-11pm

LIV Anura, 60 Skyring Terrace, Newstead, 0414 209 624

instagram.com/luma.gelato/

Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.

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