Ice age hits Cape Town

Situated at 32 Waterkant Street and headed up by joint owner, Mario Inthal, Icezeit, which means ‘ice age' in German, represents this Austrian-based brand's debut in South Africa. With a four-year track record in Austria, the international brand comprises two shops in Salzburg, one in Honolulu, and a further opening to follow later this year in Munich - and, of course, this new one in Cape Town.

Mario, a professional ice-cream maker and the manager, says, “Cape Town is considered as much an international destination as Salzburg, Hawaii or Munich, with the added advantage of a climate that is as much at home with ice cream as it is with coffee. Moreover, Cape Town has an established coffee culture, and one that favours a quintessential European lifestyle where the emphasis is placed on quality and not quantity.”

The company uses a warm production process which involves heating the ingredients up to 85?C and then cooling them down to 4?C. While fresh fruit and milk form the main ingredients, sugar volumes are kept deliberately low.

“The difference between a cold vs. a warm production method,” says Mario, “is evident in the texture and depth of the final product. The cold production process uses long-life milk whilst we use fresh pasteurised milk that undergoes a second pasteurising process. This involves highly specialised imported equipment that ensures a smooth, creamy, flavoursome result”.

You'll have to pay them a visit to sample their flavours; sufficient to say, it's wide - and decadent - though if you're health conscious, you'll also find a wide range of seasonal fruit sorbets which will appeal as much to kids as they do to more discerning palates.

Coffee lovers haven't been forgotten either...

The company, which also caters for restaurants, delis, hotels and catering companies, is open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5pm and on Saturdays from 11am to 4pm in winter and from 7.30am to 6pm in summer. For more information call 021 421 0901 or email .