Pinkberry
Originally uploaded by dynamist.
Pinkberry is the first eating establishment I can honestly say – and not without some degree of embarrassment – that I visited purely because I read great things about it on blogs. (There is also a fascinating Wikipedia entry for Pinkberry.)
The LA Times calls Pinkberry “the taste that launched 1,000 parking tickets”. Their fat-free (but not sugar-free) frozen dessert comes in two flavours, original (vanilla, really) and green tea. You then add fruit toppings and/or dry toppings of your choice.
I opted for a small (which is a rather large 5 ounces) original flavour with the fattest, juiciest blackberries I have ever seen. While I waited for my order to be prepared, I perused the Alessi products for sale in the shop. The store itself is heavy on the Philippe Starck and Le Klint elements, with lots of pastels and a pebble-lined floor. It’s dessert space for yuppies, basically.
I ate the blackberries first, then the non-yogurt/non-ice cream. It was everything I thought it would be: sweet, smooth, and creamy. I only wish it had melted more quickly, as I especially like the melty edges of ice cream and similar substances.
So why isn’t this a straightforward frozen yogurt? It all comes back, as in so many cases, to regulators and busybodies:
Originally marketed as frozen yogurt, Pinkberry has recently faced complaints that their product does not meet the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s definition of frozen yogurt because it does not contain the necessary amount of bacterial cultures per ounce. Meanwhile, Pinkberry has removed all references to frozen yogurt from its website and marketing materials. The health benefits that were previously posted on the walls of Pinkberry (e.g., cures colon cancer, fights yeast infections) have also been removed. The Los Angeles Times sent samples of Pinkberry’s product to a lab and revealed that Pinkberry did contain active yogurt cultures, but it does not contain the minimum amount of culture to call itself frozen yogurt, according to California state law.
This does not seem to have hurt Pinkberry’s business, especially not if the line snaking out the door at the one I’d visited was anything to go by.
Pinkberry
Westfield Century City
10250 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90067