Live Love Pop

Martha Stewart thinks something delicious has popped up in Dallas

Lauren Brundage has a serious pop-session — and we’re not talking about the Backstreet Boys. The 26-year-old entrepreneur has turned her passion for healthy eating into a business called Live Love Pop, a good-for-you snack that also tastes great.

Brundage has always been committed to living a healthy lifestyle. But the self-proclaimed foodie became fixated on popcorn after she graduated from SMU, when her mother taught her how to make a healthy stovetop version with the right combination of popcorn, oil and salt.

“From that point on, I literally popped popcorn every single day,” Brundage says. “Friends began catching on to my popcorn and fell in love with it. People began using my popcorn for parties, events and gifts. It was a hit.”

Tired of other tasteless healthy snacks, Brundage began to research how to launch a popcorn product of her own. Her motto? “Pop healthy, pop happy, pop the best.” With that simple declaration, Live Love Pop was born in December 2013.

The popcorn comes in three flavor: the signature truffle salt, lime fresco and sea salt. It’s available in two sizes, 2.5 and 4.4 ounces, and they are priced at $3.99 and $5.99, respectively. Live Love Pop is vegan, non-GMO and gluten-free.

The snack is available locally at Number One, Roots Juices, Swoozies, Green Grocer, PilatesBarre and Beyond Studios. It is made in a manufacturing kitchen in Addison dedicated solely to the product.

“It’s great because we can control everything,” Brundage says. “We don’t share it with anyone, so that helps with maintaining a clean, consistent and healthy product.”

So how did this Dallas-made snack pop up on Martha Stewart?

“I know a couple of people at Martha Stewart. They must have had a bag at the office, and it caught the eye of their event planners and buyers,” Brundage says. “They loved the bags and the taste of the popcorn so they decided to feature Live Love Pop at their World Cup watching party. They tweeted about us and will be blogging about us too.”

This young entrepreneur is also riding the wave of conscious capitalism, so a portion of proceeds from every bag of Live Love Pop supports breast cancer research.

“It’s my way of giving back and helping to fight the fight for everyone who suffers from this terrible disease [while doing] something that I have a passion for at the same time,” she says.

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Sip and savor

La Maison Bleue brings artful matcha drinks to new Carrollton cafe

Photo courtesy Le Maison Bleue

Saying Le Maison Bleue is "beverage focused" doesn't quite do the cafe justice.

A little cafe with a formidable fandom acquired during a six-year stint in Fairview is opening in Carrollton: La Maison Bleue, known for its Japanese teas, matcha drinks, and artful presentations, is preparing to open at 2700 Old Denton Rd., Ste. 112, in a mixed-use development with The View Carrollton condominiums.

Co-owner Jay Cho says he has not set the opening date but is “aiming to start a soft opening phase” in a week or two. At the moment, he's watching contractors coming in and out of the building, he says, and they're working hard — as are he and founder Anna Cho — to prepare the place for guests.

La Maison Bleue is primarily a beverage shop, but its drinks are often more like desserts or works of art. For example, a colorful layered azuki red bean matcha zenzai, topped with toasted mochi dango, looks and tastes like a bespoke creation by Anna, made with all-natural and thoughtfully sourced ingredients.

Her concoctions are almost too lovely to drink. Another standout that looks as good as it tastes is her Kuro Mitsu Hojicha with Japanese black sugar, matcha or roasted hojicha, and Le Maison’s signature cream.

The menu also includes:

The Sakura Cream Matcha, this year’s seasonal matcha, made with real sakura from Japan and a soft pink cream finish representative of the titular Sakura, the cherry blossom.
Strawberry Latte, made with fresh strawberries, milk, and their signature cream, soft and lightly sweet and very fruity.
Raspberry Yuzu Tea, made with tart raspberry and bright yuzu, refreshing and balanced.
Biscoff Cream Latte, heavy on the store’s signature cream, Biscoff crumble, with an espresso base.

When Anna Cho came to Dallas, she saw chic, high-quality coffee and boba or matcha tea shops at every turn, she told NBC5 in an interview.

What she didn’t see, she says, was a “quiet, intentional Japanese tea experience built on real ingredients.” So that's what she made.

The concept began as a Farmers Market stand, where she and co-founder Jay worked hard and steady, next opening a spot inside the Revolving Kitchen food hall in Fairview. That closed last month so they could prepare to open the Carrollton store.

Today, they are finalizing renovations, awaiting a health inspection, and interviewing baristas and bake staff. Jay says that they will post updates about the opening on the cafe's Instagram page.

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