The Sweet Service Award goes to River Café in Franschhoek and its delightful assistant who served me when I went to buy ice cream there on a very hot day. Standing in a queue with other customers, the young lady was called out of the kitchen to assist me, and allowed me to photograph their ice creams from the other side of the counter. I was intrigued by their black Charcoal ice cream, so she proudly came to my table to explain how it is made, she having made the ice cream, as her manager who normally makes it had the day off on that day. She told me the recipe of how it is made, and brought me the bottle of Activated Charcoal she added to give it the black color. She was so proud of her job, a rarity to see in Franschhoek! It was clear that this was a popular stop, with a number of other  customers sitting outside and enjoying the ice creams too, very reasonably charged at R25 for two scoops. Continue reading →