If you’re looking for a delicious and nutritious summertime treat, check out Top This in Grand Rapids.
“We have frozen yogurt, acai bowls, smoothies, cold pressed juices and during the winter time we did hot cocoa bombs as well,” co-owner Theresa Olszewski said. “Everything you put a topping on. The yogurt, people are putting toppings on. The acai bowls, there's a topping on it. The same with the smoothies, we put a little topping on it. Top this was just kind of something we came up with one day.”
At just 24 years old, Olszewski is one of the youngest business owners in the area.
“My uncle is someone who likes to look at businesses, kind of find something that's needed or wanted,” she said. “He said, ‘Hey, this place is for sale. Do you want to run it and do this with me?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, let's go.’ It happened and we got the place, and it's become like my baby.”
Even though frozen yogurt is better for you than ice cream, it’s still not that healthy. That’s why Olszewski added acai bowls to the menu.
“The acai is just the berries,” she said. “It's a cousin to the blueberry. It looks identical. It's just more maroon, and it's grown on palm trees in Brazil. We get it in a tub just pureed with purified water.”
Top This offers a variety of acai bowls with different ingredients, but the basic recipe can easily be made at home. All you need is nut butter, granola, fresh fruit and acai. You can buy this superfood at most grocery stores. Just make sure to check the frozen fruit section.
Making an acai bowl is very simple. Start with 4 – 6 ounces of frozen acai in the bottom of a bowl. Top that with a healthy serving of peanut butter, or any other nut butter, and then add slices of your favorite fruit. If you want to kick it up a notch, sprinkle the top with chia seeds, hemp seeds, shredded coconut or cacao nibs.
If this sounds like too much work, swing by Top This and let the workers create one for you!
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