Gelupo Gelato

Ricotta and sour cherry in the same scoop is the order that explains Gelupo fastest: creamy white against dark, sharp fruit, churned that morning. Jacob Kenedy opened the Soho gelateria on Archer Street in 2010 with Victor Hugo as the sweet counterpart to Bocca di Lupo, his Italian restaurant directly opposite, taking over a former internet cafe and shipping the ice-cream equipment in from Italy.

Daily churning, Italian technique

Kenedy came to gelato through Italian cooking. He opened Bocca di Lupo in late 2008 after Moro in London and Boulevard in San Francisco, trained in Bologna with Gelatauro, and carried that appetite for technique into gelato, sorbets, granitas, affogati, cannoli, cakes and Italian pantry goods.

The method favours fresh ingredients, traditional recipes and a creamy texture that never turns heavy; his 2021 book sets it out through fior di latte, pistachio, rice, and an elderflower, cucumber and gin granita. In the shop that means flavours churned daily rather than piled up for display: hazelnut, tiramisu, fior di latte and fresh mint stracciatella among the classics, with seasonal runs of fig leaf, pear, cinnamon and ricotta, berry Eton mess, apricot amaretto, rice pudding and blood orange sorbet.

A tight Soho counter

The room is small, tiled blue and white, and busy with Soho traffic: office workers, theatre-goers, families and Archer Street regulars. Queues are part of it, though staff move things along with testers and quick recommendations. Some take a cup or a cone away; others fold into the curved booths at the back with a coffee, a sorbet or an affogato.

Gelato is not heaped into mounds here, which matches the grown-up focus on churning and balance rather than window display. The link across the street stays practical as well as sentimental: the basement has served as wine storage and office space for both businesses. Opinionated About Dining ranked it forty-fifth among Europe’s cheap eats in 2023.

Start with ricotta sour cherry

Ricotta sour cherry first, then pistachio, the benchmark scoop, made Sicilian and sometimes finished with toasted nuts for texture. Tiramisu, hazelnut, fior di latte and fresh mint stracciatella sit in the same lane and are the fastest way to judge the milk base, the nut work and the sweetness.

Sorbets and granitas matter as much as the gelato. Blood orange shows the citrus side; bitter chocolate sorbet is the rich vegan option. Rotations have included Alphonso mango, desiccated coconut, burnt almond granita, chocolate Grand Marnier and pear, cinnamon and ricotta. An affogato brings strong coffee and crunchy biscotti into it, while cannoli, cakes, cantucci and Bocca di Lupo’s sauces take the order past the scoop.