Kuda Munyawiri on scooping up a sweeter KC with his new food truck in this The Pitch Questionnaire

Kuda Munyawiri of Porai Real Fruit Ice Cream // Photo by Sarah Sipple

The feeling of summer in the city washed over me with each cold spoonful.

Standing on the sidewalk outside of King G in East Crossroads—with downtown neighbors as well as friends from the suburbs—leisurely sampling new ice cream flavors felt like the very best of a city summer. 

We ventured out via Streetcar to sample Kuda Munyawiri’s new food truck (technically, a small trailer) on a Wednesday evening.  The air was a mild 78 degrees, and the energy of the Crossroads neighborhood was active but not necessarily busy like it would be in a day or two for the buzzing weekends.

But the true summertime feeling fell into place once we had our ice cream. The natural, subtle, and fresh treat from Porai Real Fruit Ice Cream brought to mind something different for each patron. For me, it was a nostalgic feeling of turning the ancient ice cream maker in our backyard or at my grandma’s farm. For others, it brought memories of global tastes from travel or simply created a new memory locked in with a new-to-them flavor combination.

And here is where it gets interesting. The flavors.

Porai Real Fruit Ice Cream // Photo by Sarah Sipple

Munyawiri starts with a vanilla ice cream base and incorporates fresh ingredients in custom combinations for each customer. The hard-scoop ice cream is blended with the mix-ins, served from the blending machine in soft-serve style swoops, and then topped with more customizable treats for texture and flavor. 

My top recommendation: Charred Sweet Corn ice cream topped with Sumac Turmeric Sauce, sunflower seeds, and Flaming Hot corn chip crumbles. The result is a slightly sweet, slightly savory, crunchy and smooth treat with a perplexing depth of flavor. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

We tried other flavor combinations, such as fruity Mixed-Berry ice cream with Luxardo cherry syrup and rainbow sprinkles, Peach and Mango ice cream with spicy mango and lime candy nibs, and basic but timeless strawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce. The Grilled Butternut Squash ice cream was another unique option, as was the daily special: Tomato and Basil ice cream topped with aged balsamic vinegar and a parmesan crisp.

Each of the flavors is pleasant but subtle. This is closer to a homemade concoction than a flavor-overloaded, candy-blasted, commercial treat. Munyawiri lets customers blend their imagination with the natural state of fruits and seeds for a one-of-a-kind dessert. 

However, this is just one aspect of Munyawiri’s creative side. He divulges his inspiration, big plans, and hacks for customers in The Pitch Questionnaire.

The Pitch: You’re a full-time graphic designer. What made you want to take on an ice cream truck, too?

Kuda Munyawiri: My core motivation is purely a selfish one. I have an insatiable need to connect with people and I find food to be a very effective shorthand for positively impacting how others feel. When I put all my passion and care into a dish—in this case, an ice cream cup—it can immediately translate to an experience of tangible joy at first bite. And that makes me feel good.

My day job is as a graphic designer but for me, the impulse for design, making stuff, and cooking all emanate from the same creative place.

On a more practical level, I am building a larger food truck out of a 20-foot shipping container. I ran out of funding to finish it, so I quickly built an ice cream trailer as a fundraising venture. However, the response to and enthusiasm for the ice cream product have been so positive that I am determined to build Porai Real Fruit Ice Cream into its own established brand.

Porai Real Fruit Ice Cream trailer // Photo by Sarah Sipple

Tell us about the name “Porai.”

I am from Zimbabwe and speak the Shona tribal language. In Shona, “porai” is an imperative phrase with several related meanings. It is used to command people to cool down, chill out, or feel better. A comparative phrase for “Porai” would be “Y’all chill out.” I thought it was appropriate for an ice cream experience.

Is this a summer-only opportunity? Where can people find you this summer?

Porai Real Fruit Ice Cream is here all summer long and will extend into fall and winter as long as people can stand to wait outside for a treat in chilly weather. Hopefully we will find an enclosed space to operate the ice cream trailer when the weather outside gets too extreme. There’s never a bad time to enjoy ice cream.

Our ice cream truck is a mobile business licensed to operate on practically any curbside in KCMO. However, our hope is to establish regular spots where people can find us every evening of the week and all day on weekends. We are starting with Blue Line and Core apartments on the weekends We have no formal arrangements yet with either of these places, but what’s most important is that we build a critical following on Instagram—this will be our main way of communicating locations as we get out more.

You offer some ice cream flavors that I’ve not seen anywhere else. What inspires your menu?

I’m as passionate about eating food as I am about sharing it with others. I am relentless in pursuing new and unique culinary experiences. Where I can’t physically travel for it I will read about it or watch clips of others experiencing it. 

With time I have developed a “flavor memory bank” that I tap into to experiment with new ideas. I have no formal training so I mainly rely on instinct and happy accidents to make up for my lack of technique. With Porai Real Fruit Ice Cream I come up with unusual flavors and non-traditional toppings including scratch-made sauces like the Sumac Turmeric sauce as a way to punch up the ice cream experience beyond the norm.

With the nature of these ice cream dishes being made to order, it is not quick. Do you have any strategies for speeding up the process or scaling up?

The made-to-order ice cream cups can actually each be made in under a minute. Right now what is bogging down the process—but is also super necessary—is the education piece of the puzzle. When new people come up to the menu their instinct is to pick a familiar “flavor” like strawberry but invariably it’s obvious they are unfamiliar with the custom nature of the process and how they can mix and match fruit options to create something uniquely their own. It takes a little more time after knowing the process to then make a choice. 

To rapidly speed up the order process we would just need someone taking orders while another makes the ice cream. Right now we are in the process of training people to know the product but we also need to build enough demand to make the extra person’s wages sustainable. In the meantime we are betting the extra special custom experience and awesome product will offset the added wait time and that customers will afford us their grace and patience.

To find out where Porai Real Fruit Ice Cream will be next, follow the Instagram account.