It may be late summer already, but Spring has sprung at Somerset House.
Of all the treats due to us after a four-month lockdown, this might just be my favourite. Newly installed in the courtyard of Somerset House is Spring, a pastel pink shipping container that’s serving inventive ice creams and winsome Negronis for the summer. [Featured image: @skyegyngell]
The brainchild of Skye Gyngell, Spring (the shipping container) is actually a pandemic-inspired offshoot of Spring (the restaurant, which sits in a gorgeous drawing room of Somerset House). With her original restaurant still closed as a result of the pandemic and social distancing measures, Gyngell is bringing some of culinary magic outdoors, with that extremely photogenic shipping container handing out a variety of different treats.
The star attraction arrives just in time for this weekend’s heatwave: a truly delectable range of ice creams, made with real fruit from Fern Verrow farm in Herefordshire. That includes damson ice cream, and a lemon and jostaberry (a sort of blackcurrant-gooseberry hybrid) scoop, along with ice lollies to evoke the sticky-fingered joy of a scorching summer’s day. Further cooling desserts come in the form of iced chocolate drinks, whilst fruit cordials and beer are also on the menu. Finally, there’s the chance to get your hands on Negronis, which, when paired with a slowly-melting ice cream cone, provide a god tier combo.
As with the season, Spring will be here only fleetingly – the shipping container’s departure is planned for the end of September, at which point the main restaurant will hopefully have reopened. You can pop along between 12-6pm from Thursday to Sunday every week to check out a place that’s well-poised to become our favourite pop-up of the summer.