Hidden on the Rougham Industrial Estate, but very easily accessible from both the A14 and the new Eastern Relief Road which runs from Moreton Hall and with ample free parking, ICE is arguably East Anglia’s best kept and most enjoyable culinary secret.
ICE (or Infusions Culinary Experience to give it it’s full name) is a Café, Cook School and Cookshop run by professional chefs. Part of the Infusions Group, ICE is just one arm of the company – the other two being Infusions Limited, a dry stores company delivering nuts, beans, pulses, flour and the like to professional kitchens across East Anglia and beyond and Infusions4Chefs, an ecommerce website offering over 7000 food related ingredients, equipment, tableware, books and gadgets to literally everyone from hobby cooks to Michelin starred restaurants across the world.
The ICE Café is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm and, despite its chilly title, offers a very warm welcome to guests, with delicious, freshly made to order breakfasts, lunches and snacks with both eat in and take away options available. Their standard menu is supplemented with an awesome sandwich of the week which changes every Monday and a hot special every day including buttermilk soaked fried chicken wings on Tuesdays, pizza Wednesdays and the ever-popular ICE Proper Fish Sandwich on a Friday which is gaining quite a reputation across the town and beyond. The ICE team includes five chefs, meaning that there is always something new and tasty to try including an exceptional range of cakes, scones and pastries.
The ICE Cook School offers cooking courses in a wide range of subjects from fish to patisserie, pitched at different levels from children’s classes in school holidays through to upskilling sessions for professional chefs. Classes are either half day or full day and take place in the impressive ICE Cook School with one of their team of professional chefs. These classes make an ideal gift and vouchers are also available. The Cook School also offers evening demonstrations for up to 12 people where you can learn from the chefs while you enjoy their spoils!
ICE is also home to the hottest ticket in town – the ICE Lunch Bar. Lunch Bar takes place on selected Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year and is a truly interactive and exciting dining experience where 12 lucky guests are seated in the kitchen and are treated to magical, culinary theatre as the ICE team of chefs cook an 8-10 course tasting menu in front of you which you then enjoy, asking any questions of the chefs as you go. Places are very much in demand and the Lunch Bar is currently fully booked until June but new dates are due to be released at www.icecookschool.co.uk later this month.
For gift ideas galore, visit the Infusions online shop at www.infusions4chefs.co.uk. This really is an Aladdin’s cave of food related delights – as well as stunning cookware and an extensive library of cook books and DVD’s, there are gadgets and gizmos galore and the chance to buy professional grade ingredients at the same prices as commercial kitchens.
As if this wasn’t exciting enough, ICE are currently expanding, with an 80-seater café due to open on site in the late summer.
If you haven’t yet discovered what everyone is talking about, head down to ICE and find out for yourselves. You can find out more online at www.icecookschool.co.uk – they also sell gift cards for the café, courses, dining experiences or website which make a perfect gift.
