An ambitious, socially-conscious Houston ice cream shop has served its last scoop. Rocambolesc has closed, the business announced on Instagram.

In the announcement, the shop explains that it chose not to renew its lease in the Uptown Park shopping center when it expired after five years. The shop employed neurodiverse employees through a partnership with Houston nonprofit The Center for Pursuit.

“While the mission succeeded beyond anything we imagined, the business itself did not,” the Instagram post reads in part. “Rocambolesc was never a nonprofit; it was a Public Benefit Corporation, a business with a mission. The financial challenges were never a reflection of inclusion or the extraordinary people behind Rocambolesc.”

Open since 2022, Rocambolesc is a creation of pastry chef Jordi Roca, one of three brothers who operates El Celler de Can Roca, a three-star Michelin restaurant in Girona, Spain that was once named the best restaurant in the world. Jordi Roca's creative desserts have drawn wide acclaim, including being named the world's best pastry chef in 2014 and being profiled in Netflix's Chef Table documentary series.

The ice cream shop served soft serve gelato in flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, and oven-baked apple, as well as soft serve sorbets such as strawberry or coconut and violet (the purple flower). Diners could enhance their ice cream with add-ons such as chocolate cake, colored stars, or the chef’s take on pop rocks.

In addition, Rocambolesc served creative popsicles such as a finger-shaped bar of chocolate, olive oil, and salt and Roca's signature nose-shaped bar of strawberry and rose water. The shop also sold gelato to-go as well as chocolate bars, truffles, and candies.

To bring Rocambolesc to Houston, Roca partnered with Houston billionaire Igancio Torras, who also owns Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant BCN and MAD, its sister concept in River Oaks District.

Torras has long championed providing opportunities for neurodivergent individuals. He recently hosted the Roca brothers for two sold-out dinners in Houston that raised money for The Genuine Cup, an international soccer tournament for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Held July 27 - August 1, teams from 50 countries participated in the event, which was held at Rice Stadium.