The acai bowls at Clementines don’t come in your typical round bowl. Sky Kirkwood spent years working in her family’s ice cream and donut shops on Anna Maria Island, so when she created her own menu, she opted for banana-split boats. At 22, she opened her cafe in Bradenton. Two weeks later, Hurricane Helene leveled both family businesses.
Her sister Ocean, suddenly without work, came on full-time. Their mother Julie joined to lead marketing and design. “Sad as it is, it’s all brought us even closer,” Kirkwood says. “It makes me so happy knowing how much Clementines can support my family.”
Clementines exudes the cheerful, communal energy of a beach-town smoothie shack in a downtown setting. Every to-go cup comes scrawled with a Bible verse or short affirmation. “People say, you have no idea how much this message helped me today,” Kirkwood says…