A new establishment on South Orange Avenue is blending unique tastes with local products, bringing a new twist to the smoothie business.
The Dancing Blender, located just a few storefronts down from Rite Aid at 121 South Orange Ave., opened this week offering a wide array of smoothies, juices, sandwiches and wraps.
“I saw a void in the community of South Orange,” President and Founder Manny Adeleye said.
He decided to fill this “void” with a menu that accommodates a variety of diets including gluten-free and vegan, while appealing to all ages. With smoothies like the “Merry Berry”--a blend of blueberry, raspberry, apple and soymilk--and the “Afternoon Delight”--strawberry, banana, apple, kiwi and soy milk mixed together--there is an assortment of flavors that go beyond what is usually available at smoothie bars.
In keeping with his hopes that the store will reflect the community, Adeleye has become quite involved at Seton Hall.
“I’ve contacted the Athletics Director and asked him how I could help to supply the athletes with specially designed nutritious snacks,” Adeleye said.
The Dancing Blender also accepts Pirates Gold, making it more accessible to students.
Adeleye said everything on the menu has gone through months of testing and tweaking to achieve just the right flavor, behind it.
“Dimples,” a mix of strawberry, kiwi, apple and soy milk, is named for his son’s prominent dimples. “Humina-Humina,” a wrap with hummus, romaine lettuce, tomato, crunchy carrots, spinach and honey Dijon, on the other hand, is named after the difficulties some people have saying hummus.
Even the Dancing Blender’s name has a story behind it. Adeleye previously owned a smoothie store in South Orange named Booeys, where the windows were decorated with lively images. On the bottom of one of the windows sat a crooked blender, which Adeleye took as inspiration for his new establishment.
The Dancing Blender is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
Elena Vitullo can be reached at elena.vitullo@student.shu.edu.
