Along with ballet slipper flats and safety pin fashion, frozen yogurt has resurfaced as one of the summer’s hottest recycled ’80s trends. Like totally. But hold onto your mall bangs, sister, we’ve evolved way beyond TCBY. Enter Pinkberry.
Raging through SoCal like an acidophilus-fueled wildfire, Pinkberry has elevated fro-yo to an art form by, well, making it actually taste like yogurt. And at only 25 calories per ounce (before topping it with Fruity Pebbles and Cap’n Crunch, that is), it’s a sweet treat that is gentle on the waistline. Unlike that carton of Ben & Jerry’s you’re hiding in the freezer.
Only two flavors of the hip soft serve yogurt are available–plain and green tea–and reports from rabid fans describe it as creamy, tangy and absolutely dream-like (the Le Klimt designed space doesn’t hurt those happy feelings, either). A particular obsession is the shaved ice Pinkberry, intermingling condensed milk, fresh fruit and a “top hat” of plain frozen yogurt. Commence salivation. Fork over something like $7.25.
Sadly, no Pinkberry stores are slated for NoCal in the near future (NYC and Europe get first dibs), though knock-offs abound. Local Chowhounders report that Mangoberry at Michelle’s Yogurt on Durant Avenue in Berkeley is a close approximation and Honeydoo is slated to open this fall in SF. Meanwhile, some say the Pinkberry craze was actually pilfered from Korea’s Red Mango, now building their own West Coast fleet of shops in SoCal, Washington and Nevada. (We’ll cross our fingers they get here soon.)
Need your fix, now? Golden Spoon frozen yogurt recently opened in West Santa Rosa (in addition to the location in Windsor), offering a mind-numbing number of flavors and toppings in a more traditional bent. Styling itself as a flavor-twin to soft serve ice cream (and only 17 calories per ounce!), Golden Spoon comes in vanilla and chocolate as well as an ever-changing line-up of monthly tempations including cake batter, pumpkin pie, boysenberry, coconut and root beer float.
Like, totally awesome.
Golden Spoon Santa Rosa, 1791 Marlow Rd., Santa Rosa, 707-523-1119
Golden Spoon Windsor, 8828 Lakewood Dr., Windsor, 707-836-1119. Open daily 11am to 10pm.
Are you an addict? Can’t understand all the fuss? Wikipedia Pinkberry