fluffy and sweet happiness
They were present in any birthday bag worth its salt. Tube-shaped or square-shaped and in different colours, the candy clouds (as you used to call them) , marshmallows (as they are technically known) were part of your childhood, of your teenage cravings and now fill the shelves of a chicago cafe so that you can kill that little bug that occasionally bites you without giving up your pose as an adult and respectable person. Because no one is bitter about a sweet.
In front of XO Marshmallow Café and Wonderland they find each other Lindzi Shanks and Kat Connor , the 'Lady Bosses', as defined on their website. It was they who just over a year ago, in March 2016, turned their nostalgia for marshmallows into an online store from which they sold, and successfully sell, different varieties.
The epicenter of the candy clouds
“Before we opened the cafe, we only operated online and we had some pop.up stores” , the creators explain to Traveler.es.
So why embark on the madness of opening a physical business? “We spent the day responding to requests from our clients who They asked us where they could go to sit quietly and have some clouds with coffee. We had the idea in mind, but since we had been in business for less than a year, we decided to leave it up in the air to focus on our online sales.”
Place of pilgrimage for the most varied public
However, popular pressure paid off. “We were so overwhelmed with questions about it that we decided to go for it. We found a space and started a Kickstarter campaign. We are just finishing our first month since we opened and things could not have gone better”.
All kinds of clients parade through his business: “from families to teenagers, couples, students and more. What brings them here is their interest in clouds and coffee. We have options on the menu that can appeal to anyone” they count
Cloud supply varies each day
They refer to the marshmallows of different flavors , such as honey lavender, bourbon, salted caramel, champagne, green tea, coffee, nutella, strawberry, or vanilla; but also to “a DIY s’mores bar, S’macos (s’more tacos), Marshmallow Dream Bars, Whoopie pies, Toasted Marshmallow Lattes, and frozen S’mores.” In addition to hot and cold drinks and cloud boxes that are for sale in the establishment and whose offer changes daily.
They joke, assuring that what attracts their customers is the happiness they give off, but we take it seriously, especially when you discover that in XO Marshmallow Café and Wonderland you can enjoy the Months. Yes, a donut made of marshmallow. "It's what we call Mars'halo (...) You can easily dip it in your coffee or hot chocolate." It is available in chocolate or vanilla at a price of three dollars” (2.5 euros).
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The seductive power of nostalgia