SCOOP: A Wonderful World of Ice Cream, King’s Cross

Spoons at the ready, because an exhibition exploring the past, present and future of ice cream has opened in London. SCOOP: A Wonderful World of Ice Cream is the work of Bompas & Parr, the multi-sensory experience connoisseurs known for their awe-inspiring pop-ups.

Reopening their British Museum of Food, but in the new location of a converted King’s Cross gasworks, Bompas & Parr’s new exhibition will fully immerse its guests in the world of ice cream, blending history titbits with enchanting experiences sure to ignite each of your senses and rekindle your childlike wonder. The exhibition will lead you down sweet-smelling corridors and into caves lit by glow-in-the-dark ice cream (don’t try to eat them, though, or you’ll have to find your way out in the dark). With its fountain of Hundreds and Thousands, and inhalable vanilla-flavoured fog, this truly is an experience to make Willy Wonka proud.

The tour will also lure you into a sub-zero ice chamber for a tasting class with an ice cream student from the 18th century. She’ll be sharing her recipes and encouraging guests to try unusual icy concoctions. Daffodil ice cream anyone?

As for the less edible portion of the exhibition, guests can browse ice cream paraphernalia, including vintage equipment, advertisements and art. You'll even see the very first recorded drawing of an ice cream cone; cool, huh? Guests can also feast their eyes on Andy Warhol prints and their minds on a detailed explanation of the neuroscience of brain freeze. It’s not all sweetness and smiles, though, there’s also a dark side to the history of ice cream which those aged 18 and above can learn about – namely, the turf wars that broke out between two rival ice cream vans in 1980s Glasgow, which left no less than six people dead.

Understandably, all this learning about ice cream will leave you craving one. Luckily, the exhibition begins and ends in Bompas & Parr’s brilliantly named Conehenge café. Here, you can tuck into timeless classics including candied fruit or try a Bompas & Parr original named ‘Bliss Point’ – let’s just say its sweet and salty goodness will leave you feeling well and truly gratified.