Latte News

New wellness center in West Village brews Dallas' trendiest coffees

Coffee with mushrooms and coffee with charcoal, mmmm.

Photo courtesy of Formula

Formula Wellness Center, a small chain that helps you lose weight and offers various medical treatments, has opened a third location in the West Village location at 3600 McKinney Ave., joining its locations in the Park Cities and Fort Worth.

It's a medical practice run by a husband-and-wife doctor team that provides workout and diet solutions, supplements, injections, detoxifying I.V. infusions, and bioidentical hormone therapy.

They're also featuring some unique food and beverage options, including a coffee and bone broth bar and to-go Formula Foods.

Bone broth has become a popular cure-all, and their coffee options feature some trendy ingredients, including a coffee with butter and another with turmeric.

Their options are as follows:

Fathack Coffee – custom blend made with coffee, Lucky Layla Farms butter, coconut oil, and medium chain triglyceride oil (easiest oil from which the body can produce energy)
Mushroom Mochas – organic blends include Chaga, Reishi, Cordyceps, and Lion’s Mane made with organic cacao steamed milk
Collagen Lattes – 10 grams of collagen protein
Charcoal Lattes – detoxifying/hangover busting activated charcoal
Golden Milk Lattes – made with inflammation reducing turmeric
Bone Broth – two versions of organic, grass-fed Texas cattle simmered with a local pitmaster’s specific blend of seasonings to yield the best collagen in this drinkable, protein-rich beverage.

Formula Foods
Aligning with Formula Wellness Center’s goal to preserve health and prevent illness with nutrition, exercise and supplementation, Formula Foods are a grab-and-go meals created by local chefs to provide guests with personalized nutrition.

A weekly rotation of options includes meals such as Spinach Artichoke Chicken Casserole, Italian Stuffed Bell Peppers, Taco Cabbage Skillet, Chicken Enchilada Bowl, Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Zucchini Boats and Cajun Salmon.

The best part: all of their coffees will be served in compostable paper/plastic products.

coffee

COUNTRY CACHET

Cirque du Soleil in Dallas boasts Western costumes by Beyonce stylist

Photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil

Songblazers will be in Houston through August 11.

Entertainment circus tour Cirque du Soleil has mounted a new US tour, one that represents its first foray into an unlikely milieu: country music. CalledSongblazers, it comes to Dallas during the State Fair of Texas with a celebrity behind the scenes: famed stylist Zerina Rosette Akers who created the costumes for the show.

This marks Akers' Cirque du Soleil debut, but she has years of experience in the fashion world. She was Beyonce's personal stylist for nearly a decade and has styled other big names in the entertainment industry, including Houston native Megan Thee Stallion, Chloe and Halle Bailey, and more.

Western influences have taken over mainstream fashion over the past few seasons. Icons in the fashion industry, including Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Dior, and Chloé, have created entire collections around Western style. With Songblazers, Akers had the opportunity to do the same.

"I was inspired by country fashion and country music past and present. I really dug into a ton of different musicians and artists, but also runway style and fashion and how it's incorporated to have the best of both worlds of fashion and music meet," Akers says.

Cirque de Soleil Akers added to Songblazers by telling the story of country songs and music through her designs. Sketch courtesy of Cirque du Soleil

Cirque costumes are famously flexible and versatile, allowing the performers to move freely during their performances. According to Akers, she worked with the commonly known aspects of country fashion, adding a Cirque du Soleil essence paired with modern Western-influenced fashion. And, of course, spandex. "Everything has to be spandex 'cause we gotta move," she says.

One of Akers' favorite creations for the show was the famed nudie suit. For those unfamiliar with nostalgic country fashion, a nudie suit is a highly embellished stage costume that became a status symbol of country music performers dating back to the 1950s.

Cirque de Soleil Western Akers designed her version of the famous country music nudie suit. Sketch courtesy of Cirque du Soleil

For many, it became a symbol of the American Dream. Akers created her own version for Songblazers.

"My favorite style piece of the country aesthetic is the nudie suit. It's so glam and rooted in culture and performance; it's just gorgeous," she says.

To complement the costumes, Vanessa Ashley, makeup specialist for Cirque du Soleil, says the color palette for the show is vibrant and happy. She pulled from the colors of the costumes to create a palette of blues, oranges, pinks, and purples. The makeup team teaches the artists how to do their makeup and hair by giving them lessons so they can complete their looks on their own weeks prior to the show.

Songblazers runs September 25-October 11 at the Music Hall at Fair Park. Tickets to the show include admission to the State Fair of Texas for the day of the show only, parking not included (does not include September 25-26).

Photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil

Songblazers will be in Houston through August 11.

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