FOOD & DR INK
“I don’t really like routine. Before I would do two, three years somewhere, then after two years I’d want to move on. It’s different when you’re in a restaurant: you’re in the same place, doing similar things every day, and it’s easier to get bored. But here, every day is different. There’s not really an average week. This time last week I was cycling from Beirut to Jordan – this time next week I’ll be in the south of France – this week I’m having tea with you,” he grins, over cups of earl grey in the Senate. “Travel gives me perspective on my life, my business; I always come back with new ideas.” When Jack is in the country, the calmer pace of the cooler months is definitely appreciated. “At the moment the shop’s busy, but not crazy, and there’s no events on – so I can wake up, go for a run, come back, shower, meditate and head in – I love it.” Jack says. “I can open my book, work out what I want to focus on – recipe development in the shop, sorting this or that out – rather than being pulled along.” Summer as a gelatician is a different experience: for the past few years, Jack hasn’t taken a day off between April and September. This won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s visited the shop in the warmer months, when queues often stretch far down Bene’t Street. “I’d say 90% of our business is in the summer, but it’s essentially two, three different businesses,” he explains: “We have the unit where we do wholesale and events from, and the shop where we do retail – but they’re different things. That’s the tough bit. There are plenty of weekends in the summer when we’ll be scooping at five different locations simultaneously: the
ce cream might not be the first treat on your mind in the colder months, but it’s time to have a rethink. The perfect moment to visit Jack’s Gelato is 11am on a winter’s day: soft morning sunlight pouring through the sash window and open door, gentle background beats providing a restful soundtrack and one or two members of Jack’s team pottering around the just-
opened shop, gearing up for the day ahead. Occasionally the tranquility is broken by a new student or tourist stepping up to the counter, bewildered by options – but they soon wander out again, happily clutching a cone of the newest flavour on the wall, leaving you alone to enjoy this temple of frozen delights. Though you’re guaranteed to encounter an array of extraordinary flavours all year round, one thing you are less likely to see in the winter is Jack van Praag himself, the creator of this ten-year- old Cambridge institution. If Jack’s there, he’ll be in plain sight serving customers or possibly hidden below stairs, tinkering with a recipe – but if he’s not in the building, then your guess is as good as mine. He might be reading in a hammock on a beach in South Africa, recovering from a solo skydiving class, running in the mountains of the Pyrenees, or scoping out the eastern coast of America for iced inspiration. Travelling is one of the activities that Jack saves for the winter months, when owning his own business enables the former chef to take time out and explore the world.
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