On a hazy July evening with friends on the balcony, when the bees are working through the flowers, the humidity hangs in the air, and the lake goes still and glassy, the last thing anyone wants is something complicated. That’s when a cold, fruit smoothie fits.
Hippie culture claimed the word “smoothie” to describe a blended, produce-forward, and healthy drink sometime in the 1960s. But the drink itself is much older than the name, with roots in South American fruit drinks, Indian lassi, and Middle Eastern yogurt blends. The modern American version arrived with the electric blender and post-war health food culture, and by the 1970s Steve Kuhnau had founded Smoothie King in Louisiana, Jamba Juice followed in California in 1990, and gyms had adopted the post-workout smoothie as a health trend.
W.A. Frost & Company has been feeding Saint Paul since 1975, when the old William A. Frost pharmacy on the corner of Selby and Western was restored and reopened as a restaurant. The building itself dates to 1889 when the Hennessey brothers built it as one of the most fashionable addresses in the city, with luxury apartments upstairs and commercial space below. The pharmacy occupied the main floor and ran a soda fountain in the lower level. Local lore has F. Scott Fitzgerald walking over to pick up Cokes and cigarettes while writing This Side of Paradise.
By the 1970s, the neighborhood had deteriorated and the building with it. When new owners purchased it in 1974 with plans to anchor a neighborhood revival, they kept as much of the original character as they could. The tin ceiling was restored, the exposed brick cleaned, the pharmacy’s landscape oil paintings rehung. Marble from an old bank building in Superior, Wisconsin became tabletops. The original soda fountain space eventually became part of the restaurant, too. Walking in still feels like stepping briefly out of the present, which is exactly what the owners hope every guest feels.
This fruit smoothie comes from their mid-1980s kitchen, and it’s simple: just strawberries, raspberries, banana, piña colada mix, and ice. Fresh fruit is ideal when summer is cooperating, but frozen fruit from peak season works just as well; skip the ice if you go that route. The piña colada mix adds a tropical sweetness that will have you thinking you’ve been transported to a beach. The best part: it only takes a few minutes to blend up and serve.
Fruit Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1½ bananas
- 2 oz. fresh raspberries
- 4 oz. fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled
- 4 oz. piña colada mix
- 16 oz. ice
Instructions
- Plase all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
