Is it breakfast? Lunch? Or something in between ... Acaí bowls are everything you want them to be (and a few extra things too!) This trend from Brazil is packed with nutrients and all manner of fresh fruits. It looks like a dessert, but it's actually kind of like a sweet alternative to a salad.
A family-run shop from Sedona just opened last week at 245 E. Congress St., and the place has been getting a steady stream of customers at all hours of the day. In addition to the colorful acaí smoothie bowls you've probably seen all over Instagram, Berry Divine also makes its own soft-serve sorbet out of the frozen berries it imports from Brazil.
The shop is run by classicly-trained pastry chef Todd Shreve and his family, who you might find running the counters or doing their social media. Todd insists on using only frozen fruit in his smoothies, rather than packing a bunch of ice in there which waters them down. Berry Divine's bowls are stuffed with more than half a dozen ingredients, which makes each bite a fun game ...
Irene sipping a Greenie smoothie with spinach and kale. That's a picture of the acaí berries in the background. They look like blueberries, but need to be eaten frozen to preserve the nutrients.
We stopped by yesterday and tried a Maui Wowie bowl, $10, pineapple, cashews, cacao nibs, bee pollen, coconut, hemp seed granola and honey. We got ours made with the earthy soft-serve ice cream. (Acaí is a superfood and carries a lot of antioxidants, but it definitely has a "dirt" flavor if you're not adding anything to it.) Luckily, theirs is enriched with apples and beets, making it sweet.
We also tried a "traditional" smoothie bowl where the acaí is blended with a variety of ingredients like fruit, protein powder and peanut butter. The Summit Bowl, $11.50, tasted richer and fattier from the peanut butter. And then it was topped with strawberries, chocolate, cashews, granola and honey.
Last but not least, Berry Divine also does healthy smoothies. We suggest The Greenie, $8.50, which has spinach, kale, bananas and coconut water. It's not actually green because the acaí berry makes it purple, but you know, it's still healthy ... We think.
