Sneak Peek: Treats on Grand Ave.

Cereal + ice cream = Summer's magical alchemy.

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I am here for the dessertification of cereal. Let sugar bombs sugar bomb when they should, and stop trying to pitch us this "part of this nutritious breakfast" crap.

So it fits in my happiness world that Treats Cereal Bar + Boba is opening on Grand Avenue this weekend.

Brother and sister power team, Trisha Seng and Minh Dinh, are the driving force behind Treats. Growing up in a family that owned a Vietnamese restaurant on University Avenue, they thought they would NEVER get into the food business. "Oh we hated going to the restaurant all the time," Trisha told me. "We would look at the shiny skyscrapers of downtown and say: we're going to be there someday." And while these two, the youngest of 11 kids, would follow that dream into the finance world, it's hard to get away from the food life. 

Trisha is one of the owners of Waffle Bar, which opened in Uptown last year to bring us the bubble waffles we so deserve (and now open in Lakeville too!). And now, Minh says, "It's my turn. I'm a millennial and I love eating cereal for dessert. We've traveled all over and thought how great a cereal bar would do in the Twin Cities." The sibs found the perfect spot on Grand Avenue, a house turned into a salon, which had been sitting vacant for two years. It's right next to the parking lot of Red Rabbit. "We thought since this is a family run business, and we know a lot of our customers will be families, that Grand was the perfect spot to open."

But to be clear, it's not just you and bowl of cereal (chain smoking Froot Loops as you sit zombied on the carpet in front of Saturday morning cartoons). There's ice cream involved.

Treats has a very cool blending machine that will take your favorite cereals and almost drill them into ice cream. By not pulverizing the cereal, you still get the crunchy texture and you can pick out that special Froot Loop flavor you crave. Get it in a cup or a brightly colored and flavored cone from Chicago's The Konery. 

You can custom blend, of course, or you can go with one of their creations. I tried the Berry Kiss which was berry delicious with Fruity Pebbles, Froot Loops, Trix, with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries mixed in. And the Matcha Supreme blended Reese's Puffs, Puppy Chow, and Trix with matcha ice cream. That was a combination I could not stop going back for. 

There's also boba, so get your exploding mango pearls in your fruit tea if you are dairy-free. And they'll make you a matcha latte from scratch, which means whisking the matcha by hand, "We only use ceremonial grade matcha," Trisha noted while whisking, "it's just better and it balances the drink with a more pure and clean taste than the lower grades."

Just so you know, this is a brand agnostic shop, not a Big G outpost. So if you are a Kellogg's fan you won't be shunned. Fruity Pebbles, Froot Loops, Cap'n Crunch all live in harmonious peace together here.

Of course the place is cute and bright, with white walls like milk and an electric pink mural of cereal icons that will make all the Instagrammers go cuckoo for cocoa puffs. And if you think this will be the only shop, remember these kids were once in finance: they know what they're doing. 

The shop opens on Saturday, June 15 at 11 a.m., and the first 50 people get free merch and any treat off the menu. They'll also have a DJ and all the fun things happening, just in time for summer fun... Go check them out!

Mpls.St.Paul Daily Edit

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