Vitality Bowls coming to Greensboro

by thea@vitalitybowls.com | Aug 22, 2018 | Blog

BY NEWS AND RECORD – Vitality Bowls, a cafe specializing in Acai bowls and antioxidant-rich drinks, is coming to Greensboro.

Vitality Bowls Now Open in Richmond Heights, Serving Açaí Bowls and More

by thea@vitalitybowls.com | Aug 16, 2018 | Blog

BY FEAST MAGAZINE – A superfood café brand recently debuted its first Missouri location in Richmond Heights. Vitality Bowls opened on July 12, serving açaí bowls, smoothies, fresh juice, paninis and salads. The menu features a wide variety of superfoods including graviola, acerola, mangosteen, camu camu, maca, bee pollen and more.

Vitality Bowls originated in San Ramon, California, in 2011 and began franchising in 2014. More than 50 stores are currently open nationwide. The Richmond Heights franchise is independently owned and operated by Sally and Mark Matiszik.

The Matisziks’ storefront fills a 1,400-square-foot space in a new development with 32 seats inside and another 14 on an outdoor patio. The dining area features custom handcrafted tables from David Stein Woodworking based out of Dow, Illinois. Framed photos and infographics on the walls outline the key ingredients that go into the menu’s antioxidant-rich core items.

“I would say that first of all, we are famous for our açaí bowls. Our recipes are balanced with the maximum amount of vitamins and minerals in each bowl,” Sally says. “We take the pureed fruit of one of our fruit superstars and blend that together with other frozen fruits or vegetables into a thick spoonable base. We cover that with organic granola and top it with fresh fruits and finish it with additional superfoods.”

Choose from highlights such as Sally’s personal favorite: the Superfood Bowl with a base blend of organic açaí, a Vitality Bowls blend, almond milk, graviola, acerola, kale, bananas and strawberries, topped with organic granola, bananas, blueberries, goji berries, cacao nibs and honey.

According to Sally, Vitality Bowls’ next most popular items are its smoothies, which also aim to contain pure nutrition with no fillers such as ice, frozen yogurt, syrups or added sugars. Popular picks include The Hulk with organic açaí, guarana, almond milk, spirulina, kale, broccoli, whey protein, strawberries and bananas. Raw pressed juices are also available such as The Rejuvenator with carrot, apple, cucumber and beet.

To round out the menu, choose from paninis such as The Sirloin with grass-fed, seasoned and seared sirloin with mozzarella, spinach and dijon. A discounted panini combo special is available when you add a panini to any menu item. Salads include a spinach salad with spinach, goat cheese, quinoa, strawberries, almonds and housemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Vitality Bowls also offers local brands such as Park Avenue Coffee and KomBlu Kombucha for additional beverage options. Going forward, the Matisziks hope to open additional locations in the St. Louis area, including West County.

“I am so excited to introduce the community to açaí and superfoods,” Sally says. “I’m looking forward to being the place that introduces people to these unique fruits and vegetables in a healthy and delicious way.”

Vitality Bowls is open Monday through Saturday from 8am to 8pm and Sunday from 9am to 8pm.

Vitality Bowls, 8029 Dale Ave., Richmond Heights, Missouri, 314.448.1015, vitalitybowls.com

Try this week: Superfood bowl, breakfast burrito, and more

by thea@vitalitybowls.com | Aug 9, 2018 | Blog

BY BOULDER WEEKLY – This healthnut hotspot only opened a few weeks ago, but, if we’re being honest, we’ve already visited the superfood cafe half a dozen times. Our favorite, so far, is the signature Superfood Bowl: a thick, creamy base blend of açai, graviola, acerola, their signature “VB blend” (an immunity booster made from mangosteen, aronia berry, camu camu, moringa, açaí, blueberry, pomegranate), plus almond milk, kale, bananas and strawberries. On top, granola, banana, blueberries, goji berries, cacao nibs and honey round out the bowl with a delightfully sweet-but-not-too-sweet crunch. Hangovers and sickness be gone. $13.49.

Restaurants step up cold brew options

by thea@vitalitybowls.com | Aug 3, 2018 | Blog

BY NATION’S RESTAURANT NEWS – Long before there were spirulina smoothies, or ginger-turmeric shots, or even run-of-the-mill energy drinks, there was coffee. But as the functional-food market gets more crowded, this centuries-old member of that segment is getting upgrades as restaurants and manufacturers tweak it with herbs, spices, fats and even gases to add to its appeal and purported health properties.

And, increasingly, they’re brewing it and serving it cold.

Cold brew consumption was up by 80 percent in the year ended February 2017 while hot coffee consumption was down by 1.3 percent, according to market intelligence firm Studylogic, based in Cedarhurst, N.Y.

Cold-brew coffee is different from regular iced coffee, which is made by brewing strong hot coffee, letting it cool and then pouring it over ice. Cold brew, by contrast, is made by steeping ground roasted coffee beans in cold water for 12 hours or more, slowly extracting flavor in a way that accentuates sweetness and tones down acidic and bitter notes, making for what its proponents say is a smoother, easier-to-drink beverage.

Cold brew has come on the scene fast, growing by 580 percent from 2011 to 2016, according to Mintel estimates, and since then it appears to have spread even faster, quickly moving from coffee houses to refrigerated retail aisles to family-dining restaurants: Spartanburg, S.C.-based Denny’s introduced it to its more than 1,600 domestic locations in April.

Sharon Lykins, Denny’s senior director of product innovation, said she introduced the drink as a cold accompaniment for breakfast. Although the chain already had an iced cappuccino that sold well, she said it was “a little heavy on the milk end for breakfast.” She said the smoother, somewhat sweeter, cold brew paired well with Denny’s breakfast items, and her guests were already familiar with that type of drink.

“Coffee houses had already educated them on cold brew,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of good comments on that coffee.”

Denny’s cold brew is produced by a supplier in concentrate that is reconstituted in restaurants. Like the chain’s other coffee, it’s all from Colombian Arabica beans that are sustainable-certified.

Starbucks Coffee confirms the rapid rise of cold drinks generally: The Seattle-based chain reports that cold drinks — coffees, teas and non-caffeinated “Refreshers” — now account for more than 50 percent of its sales, up from 37 percent five years ago, even as sales of its iced, blended Frappuccino category fell in the most recent quarter.

Cold coffee in general has a health halo, Peet’s Coffee’s senior research and development manager, Patrick Main, said via email.

“As consumers are becoming more aware of how their food and beverage choices impact their health, we are seeing them choose cold coffee beverages as a replacement for other non-coffee caffeinated beverages, like soft drinks,” he said, adding that cold brew in particular is seen as “a more natural product with clean ingredients and free of preservatives.

“But there are other factors helping to drive the growth we are seeing in cold brew: flavor appeal and craft appeal. Consumers are attracted to it because of its smoother, less acidic taste resulting in a more refreshing beverage than iced coffee. Additionally, the process itself of cold brew, in that it is slowly brewed over hours, taps into the consumer desire for more craft products.”

Peet’s has been selling cold brew in retail since 2016, and in April it introduced nitrogenated varieties, which are packaged with a widget that releases nitrogen when the can is opened and gives the coffee a creamier mouthfeel.

So-called nitro cold brew is now fairly commonplace in coffeehouses and has been introduced at several chains, including many Starbucks locations and at the fast-casual açaí-bowl specialist Vitality Bowls Superfood Café.

Being the trendiest of coffee drinks, cold-brew is evolving rapidly. As nitro cold brew has spread, it has been embellished: Philadelphia-based coffee-house chain La Colombe is now infusing its cold brew latte, available in cans and kegs, with nitrous oxide instead of nitrogen. Also used by chefs who want to create foams, or to keep a steady supply of whipped cream, nitrous oxide binds with the dairy to give it body and imbue the drink with a creamier mouth feel.

Starbucks is taking a different approach, introducing a new Cold Foam to scoop on top of cold brew. Made with aerated skim milk, it was first introduced at the chain’s Reserve Roastery in Seattle, and then to its “reserve bars” throughout North America. The foam floats on top of the cold brew, adding a creamy mouth feel with each sip.