Acai smoothie bowls served from a mobile trailer called Sandy Bottom Bowls and PB&J milkshakes at Swensons drive-ins.
Local food establishments are mixing it up when it comes to frozen treats this summer.
Also today, we bring you news of Edgar’s Restaurant’s return to reality TV. Food Network's "Restaurant Impossible" show made a return visit to the Akron restaurant in late June and the episode airs Thursday.
More on this later in this column.
First, let’s get to the sweet stuff.
Sandy Bottom Bowls
Ariel Myers of Cuyahoga Falls was a new mom looking for a creative outlet and healthy eats when she began smoothie bowls featuring a frozen puree made from acai berries.
"I was trying to eat healthy and make some snacks and this also was kind of an artistic outlet… to make art out of acai smoothie bowls."
People who saw her social media posts featuring colorful pictures of her bowls "started saying ‘These look so cool. I want to try them. You should start our own smoothie business,’ " Myers recalled.
And her Sandy Bottom Bowls business was born. She touts it as the area’s first mobile acai smoothie bowl business — she sells the treats from a trailer.
Myers already had a truck, so selling out of a trailer hitched to the truck was a quick route to getting the business started. She’d eventually like to open a storefront smoothie place.
This season — the fourth for the business — is the best yet. "Every time we go out [with the trailer] we sell out," Myers, 29, said.
The acai berry — from the acai palm tree and native to South America — is an anti-oxidant rich fruit that became commercially available in the United States about 20 years ago. In more recent years, the acai puree mixed with other ingredients has gained popularity in this country as a base for smoothie bowls.
To make the creamy base used for her Sandy Bottoms Bowls, Myers mixes apple juice, strawberries, bananas and frozen acai puree.
The biggest seller — PB&A is topped with peanut butter, granola, banana and strawberry slices, cocoa nibs and Ohio honey drizzle. The Sandy Bottom Bowl features granola, goji (another berry), strawberry and banana slices, blueberries and Ohio honey.
The menu includes several other bowls; made-to-order ones also are available.
Prices range from $5 to $11 depending on the size of the bowl and toppings.
Yeah, that’s a bit more than a typical treat. But the acai bowls can be meal replacements and they feature fresh ingredients.
"Most people that come to the trailer they understand" what goes into making the bowls, Myers said.
Sandy Bottom Bowls will be outside S.D. Myers company, at 180 South Ave. in Tallmadge, for lunch from 11:30 to 2 p.m. through Aug. 27. (Open to the public.)
In September, Myers plans to have the trailer again at S.D. Myers, as well as at Cornerstone Market, 301 S. Main St. in Munroe Falls, and at the North Canton Farmers Market, 1447 N. Main St. She also plans to be at the Jenks Building, at 1884 Front St. in downtown Cuyahoga Falls, next month. Check the Sandy Bottom Bowls Facebook page and Instagram account for updates.
On a recent morning, my hubby and I split a $7 bowl for breakfast. We were delighted by the fresh yumminess. Our bowl — an Original — featured the acai smoothie base and was topped with granola, banana slices and Ohio honey drizzle.
I got the bowl Aug. 15 when Sandy Bottom Bowls visited our Akron neighborhood, stopping outside of a house at the invitation of the homeowner.
Had there been no pandemic, Myers would have set the trailer up that day at the PorchRokr music festival in nearby Highland Square. (This year, PorchRokr was dubbed CouchRokr and was a virtual event. You can still see the bands and listen to the music by going to the Highland Square PorchRokr Festival Facebook page.)
These days, along with running Sandy Bottom Bowls and raising her 4-year-old daughter, Ellie, Myers is doing shipping and electrical work at S.D. Myers, the company founded by her grandfather that inspects, tests and services electrical transformers.
So what’s up with Sandy Bottom Bowls name?
Myers said she was after a name that was a nod to enjoying time on a beach. When she initially made bowls, she was trying to re-create ones she enjoyed while visiting Hawaii.
"I thought of sitting on the beach," she said, "and getting a sandy bottom."
A favorite, in a shake
In a sweet teaming of iconic local brands, Swensons is now offering milkshakes made with grape jelly and Jif peanut butter — both made by J.M. Smucker Co.
The PB&J Milkshake debuted Aug. 10 and will be available for a limited time — likely a few more weeks.
The shake offers "a sip down memory lane," Kevin Howley, director of marketing for the 14 Swensons drive-in restaurants, said last week. Swensons calls the drive-ins "stands."
The milkshake, he said, "is about that back-to-school, peanut-butter-and-jelly vibe."
The shake is made with Swensons milkshake base and is then "handspun" with Jif peanut butter — creamy, not crunchy — and Smucker’s grape jelly.
"Nothing is really overpowering about the grape [flavor]," Howley said. "It’s subtle."
It’s one of 18 shakes in the lineup of the Akron-headquartered Swensons chain. It’s filling the spot reserved for limited-time shakes and takes the place of Key Lime Pie, which featured crushed Nabisco graham crackers.
The PB&J shake is the first to feature products made by Orrville-headquartered J.M. Smucker Co.
"We loved the opportunity to partner with them [Smucker], especialy with us being neighbors," Howley said.
The milkshakes feature market leaders, Smucker spokesman Frank Cirillo said.
Jif is the No. 1 peanut butter brand in the country and Smucker’s brand is the leader in fruit spreads, Cirillo said.
J.M. Smucker, founded in 1897, purchased the Jif and Crisco (cooking oil and shortening) brands in 2002 from Proctor & Gamble Co. in a $1 billion stock deal.
Swensons likes to roll out eats and beverages that are only offered for a limited time periodically, keeping "Swenatics" happy.
Last year, the drive-in eatery chain made a splash with waffle fries, available for a limited time.
‘Restaurant Impossible’ returns to Akron
"Restaurant Impossible: Back in Business," featuring Edgar’s Restaurant in Akron, will initially air at 9 p.m. Thursday on the Food Network.
The episode — which will air again at 12 a.m. Friday — features mouthy host Robert Irvine talking with Edgar’s owner Glenn Gillespie about the challenges of operating during the ongoing pandemic, including efforts the restaurant is taking to stay viable and adhere to state mandates designed to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Gillespie told me that he and his wife, Albertha, and their children, Kamalenn, 20, and Marcus, 17, were essentially the place’s only workers after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine ordered restaurants to close for inside dining in mid-March.
The family kept Edgar’s going, offering carryout only, until the restaurant reopened in mid-June. Marcus and Kamalenn continue to work full-time at the eatery.
Robert Irvine initially brought his "Restaurant Impossible" show to Edgar’s — known for its smoked meats and eclectic menu — last fall. And the episode stemming from that 48-hour visit aired in January.
In "Restaurant Impossible," Irvine uses lots of tough love and $10,000 to revamp challenged restaurants — in just 48 hours.
For the initial episode, the "Restaurant Impossible" crew and volunteers made the place a lot brighter, as well as more contemporary looking.
This time around, Irvine focused on the restaurant’s "patio," — a balcony on the west and north side of the restaurant that overlooks the city-owned Good Park Golf Course. Edgar’s is in the course’s club house, at 530 Nome Ave., west of Hawkins Avenue.
Outdoor eating has become even more popular at eateries amid the pandemic. Experts say outdoor dining — with adequate social distancing — is less risky than eating inside an establishment.
Changes to the patio include new tables topped with new red umbrellas and new seat pads.
Gillespie is pleased with the changes:
"It looks like were in Santa Monica," he said.
Gillespie said Irvine was happy to hear the restaurant had added an online ordering system amid the pandemic.
Customers can link to the online ordering platform by going to Edgar’s website: https://ift.tt/2EsgrDB.
The restaurant is open from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Call 330-869-3000.
We’ll have more about Edgar’s soon.
"Restaurant Impossible" also returned to Garrett’s Mill & Brewing Co at 8148 Main Street in Garrettsville.
The episode featuring Garrett’s Mill initially airs at 9 p.m. Sept. 3 and again at 12 a.m. Sept. 4.
Send local food news to kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
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Akron Dish: Smoothie bowl business rolling; ‘Restaurant Impossible’ returns to Edgar’s and more - Akron Beacon Journal
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