Two Cereal Cafes Are Upgrading Breakfast

This September, embrace the upgrade with us: Make your eating and drinking better, faster and stronger.

In college, precious few things got us up before an 11 a.m. class, but the dining hall's massive cereal bar stocked with Cocoa Puffs, Cap'n Crunch, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cheerios was definitely one of them. Those mornings were all about the pursuit of the perfect cereal combo. That was the last time cereal was exciting. Thankfully, two cereal cafés are making that college cereal glee part of grown-up life.

In Brooklyn, sneaker store Kith recently opened Kith Treats, a shop that's a sugary cereal addict's dream. The staff here mix up "box sets" of any of the 24 classic varieties, like Froot Loops, Cookie Crisp and Lucky Charms, with your choice of 25 "toppings," like Reese's Pieces, waffle cone chips, Whoppers and mini marshmallows. And to drown it all, there are five milks including chocolate, hemp and skim. Visitors who can't decide can pick from suggested combos like The Agassi (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs) or the more intense Bam Bam by Action Bronson (Rice Krispies Treats, Cookie Crisp, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Kit Kat, Oreo, Marshmallow Charms and skim milk).

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Over in Venice Beach Lela Butteryqueen (yes, that's her real name) at Another Kind of Sunrise takes a healthier approach. Her team presses their own nut milks from hazelnuts, macadamia nuts and the like, using them as a base for bowls with house-made cereal topped with fresh fruit and seeds like sesame seeds, pepitas and sunflower seeds. Her favorite is the suicide bowl, "also called a stoner bowl," Butteryqueen jokes. "It's a bit of homemade granola, muesli, coconut flakes, a superfood berry mix . . . almond butter and cacao nibs." Diners can eat one at the tiny shop's bar or take it to the beach, which is just a short walk away.

For cereal fans who don't live near these places (or simply can't get up early enough to make a pit stop before work), upgrading cereal at home is simple. Top Cheerios with "seasonal fruit, nut milk and chia, pumpkin or sesame seeds," Butteryqueen says. And, add a nut butter drizzle for good measure. For more ideas, here are three of our personal favorites:

① bran flakes + dried mango + pinch matcha + honey + soy milk

② cheerios + dried, crystallized ginger + banana slices + peanut butter + almond milk

③ cocoa puffs + toasted sesame seeds + raspberries + cashew milk