It’s not difficult to discover new and exciting tables throughout the Garden Route right now, and particularly in Plett. If you log a few kilometres throughout the area to explore and eat at different finds, the result will be a culinary tale of food culture. This country pizzeria / gelateria with its global take on Italian classics proves it’s a damn fine time to eat out in Plett.
Slightly hidden under a nest of trees along the Airport Road, you will find Ice Dream Land. This country style and relaxed family restaurant follows a seasonal style menu, with wood-fire oven pizzas and special Tuscan pasta of the day offerings that are on par with most of the top Italian restaurants.
It’s a family affair at Ice Dream Land. Couple Marco and Grazia started the business in 2000, making traditional Italian gelato and selling it on the beaches of Plett during the summer. Marco handling production, Grazia and their daughter Chiara selling from their ice cream truck on the beach.
The family started to make mozzarella for local restaurants and added this to their already booming supply trade. The business grew; Marco concentrated on production and Grazia handled the administrative end of the business. Thirteen years later, Chiara and her husband Mattie joined Marco and Grazia’s adventure and opened Ice Dream Land in December 2014. Originally starting as a Gelateria, it soon became apparent that with the addition of traditional mozzarella on the menu, the demand for new culinary delights was just too great. Now on Sundays, mom Grazia (the daughter of Vittorio, a Tuscan cook) prepares traditional Tuscan dishes with the help of her husband who makes traditional Italian pastas and gnocchi.
Mattia can be found with Marco in the kitchen, making pizzas and their signature cold platters of the finest Italian charcuterie, wood fire baked breads, fresh green salads, traditional Italian condiments and preserves, and their very popular cheeses. You won’t miss Chiara with her slender stature and her ‘oh so Italian’ good looks, as she greets guests and ensures everyone is warmly welcomed and having a wonderful experience.
The signature dishes at Ice Dream Land I’ve been around the block a few times when it comes to pizza. Their ‘La Dama Rossa’ is a popular favourite, topped with Parma ham and their very own ‘burrata’ cheese. One of my favourites, because I like to ‘graze’, is their ‘Piatto Misto’ cold platter with charcuterie from Italy and a selection of their own cheeses – adding one of their fresh out-of-the garden salads and freshly baked breads tops that off very nicely.
Mattia’s favorite from the menu is the ‘Napoletana’ pizza (capers and anchovies) or the ‘Panuozzo’, a sandwich made with pizza dough that is warmed up in the wood fired oven and then freshly garnished. But best of all if you can catch it before it is sold-out, is Mamma Grazia’s ‘Pasta Pasticciata’, a pasta dish made with mozzarella meat balls and other yummy stuff.
It’s best to book a table on Sundays to make sure you have a seat, phone +27 (0)82 448 5795.
Our dream is to supply ourselves with everything we need and one step at a time with hard work we are slowly getting there.
Find out more about Ice Dream Land
