At last! Ice cream

The River Cafe Ice Cream—34 Years in the Making

When we opened the River Cafe in 1987, the ice creams and sorbets we put on the menu were inspired by Dada Rogers, an Italian from Florence who had moved to London in 1939. Missing the delicious ice creams of Italy, she decided to make them herself.

In the early days, we would cook the caramel outside to make it so dark it was almost scorched. This yielded a deep, rich caramel ice cream, as boldly flavoured as the rest of the dishes on our menu. 

Now, almost 40 years later the recipes for our ice creams have not changed from Dada’s—just some of the ingredients we are able to source. For our vanilla, we use two types of beans—from Tahitii and Papa New Guinea—and the chocolate rippling through our stracciatella is seventy-percent cacao Cru Virugna.

Dada’s fruit sorbets, like the strawberry, pictured above, are made with only three ingredients—fruit, sugar, and lemon, and we only make them in-season when the fruit is local and at its best.

These four flavours—caramel, strawberry, vanilla, and stracciatella—are now available for home delivery from Shop The River Cafe. As the seasons evolve, we’ll add new flavours. Click here to order one or opt for a box set to try all four.

Photography by Matthew Donaldson.

Visit Shop The River Cafe to place your order.