Froyo for Breakfast

Fro-yo girl here. Do you ever crave frozen yogurt in the morning? Ever think that most frozen yogurt shops open too late? 

My answer is yes to both of course. I miss Jubili Frozen Yogurt on Fillmore, which used to open at 8 AM and made wonderful frozen yogurt parfaits.

The good news is that you can get Fraiche’s frozen yogurt early in the morning. The SF and Palo Alto locations open at 7 AM on weekdays (8 AM on weekends) and the frozen yogurt is ready early (as soon as they open or shortly thereafter). The Stanford campus location opens a bit later but it does have steel cut oatmeal and housemade mochi.

My favorite thing to get is their SF Chronicle special ($6.25): Slow cooked, warm steel cut oatmeal, your choice of five toppings in between and your choice of yogurt or frozen yogurt on top. The toppings insulate the frozen yogurt so it doesn’t melt that quickly but even when it melts into the frozen yogurt, it tastes amazing. My favorite toppings are extra housemade mochi, fresh fruit and something crunchy, like Batter Bakery's granola which has nuts and coconut.

They sometimes run out of steel cut oatmeal so it pays to go early. Should you not feel like having frozen yogurt for breakfast, they have steel cut oatmeal, yogurt muffins, green juice, housemade Greek (non-frozen yogurt), kombucha and more.

Caffe Ambrosia in the FiDi area of downtown SF is open early but they don’t turn on their frozen yogurt machines till later (around 10:30 AM). Caffe Ambrosia was nice enough to say that you could call first and ask them to turn it on earlier.

Pinkberry Union Square opens at 10 AM which is earlier than most places. I’m not sure about the hours for the Walgreen’s frozen yogurt machines but the location opens at 7 AM.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* FRAICHE YOGURT: 1910 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA 

* CAFFE AMBROSIA: 14 Trinity Place, San Francisco, CA
* PINKBERRY: 170 O’Farrell St., San Francisco, CA

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

New Winter Flavors from Yogurtland: Round Three

Fro-yo girl here. Tis the season for new froyo flavors. Two new seasonal flavors hit Yogurtland stores today: Butterscotch and Cranberry orange tart.

* Cranberry orange tart: “Real New England cranberries and fresh Florida orange juice combine for a festive flavor that will leave you smiling, refreshed and ready for shopping.” This is my favorite Walking in a Winter Yogurtland flavor so far. The cranberry flavor hits you first and then the juicy orange flavor. There’s a lot of orange flavor but the real “yogurt” flavor is still noticeable too. It’s refreshing and bright.

* Butterscotch: “It’s back! Real caramel and real scotched butter combine for a flavor so real you’ll think it should be in a candy dish.” This flavor did taste like butterscotch candies, the ones that come wrapped in yellow. It’s very creamy. It wasn’t super sweet (which is a plus).

Next week more new seasonal froyo flavors will arrive: Chocolate mousse pie and egg nog.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Brozen Brogurt? Frozen Yogurt for Men

Fro-yo girl here. It’s estimated that anywhere from 70-80% of frozen yogurt consumers are female. With so many female customers, it’s not surprising that many frozen yogurt shops are designed to appeal to women. Witness the number of shops decorated in white and pink, cutesy logos, and pictures of fruit.

However, a few shops are bucking the trend with masculine daddy/bro/dude names like Daddy Yo’s, Yo Daddy, Yogurt Brothers, YoBro, and Dude Where’s My Yogurt. Then there are shops named after men, like YoJohnny, Eddie’s Frozen Yogurt, Uncle Gussy’s and Uncle Buck’s. Surf inspired shop names like Surf’N Yogurt and Big Kahuna Yogurt also have masculine appeal. Huddles in Indianapolis, which is owned by the daughter of the Colts owner, shows Colts games and sells Colts apparel. CUPS Frozen Yogurt takes a different sexier approach and is being called the Hooters of frozen yogurt.

These shops have differentiated themselves with their names and décor, but are they different from other frozen yogurt shops? Or is the difference in name only? It looks like their yogurt and toppings are the same as other frozen yogurt places. Yo Daddy is somewhat different because it also offers beer and wine which is unusual for a frozen yogurt establishment.

For a laugh, check out Conan’s Brozen Brogurt video, which is a spoof on what a manly frozen yogurt and manly toppings: http://teamcoco.com/video/brozen-brogurt-the-frozen-yogurt-just-for-bros

Supermarkets are starting to carry yogurt products that can be classified as Man Foods.

ProYo high protein frozen yogurt, launched on the West Coast in March 2013, is set for a national rollout in grocery stores next year. 

In case you haven’t heard, there is a Greek yogurt for men, called Powerful Yogurt. Powerful Yogurt, “the first yogurt in the U.S. designed for a man’s health and nutrition needs” features images of toned torsos reminiscent of a razor or protein powder commercial.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

New Winter Flavors from Yogurtland: Round Two

Fro-yo girl here. Two new seasonal flavors hit Yogurtland stores today: Chocolate mocha and Sticky toffee pudding.

Chocolate mocha: “We deliciously combined real Sumatra coffee with a special blend of cocoas for a full-bodied flavor guaranteed to fuel all those holiday shopping trips.” Chocolate mocha is a no added sugar flavor. I hoped for a darker, richer chocolate flavor but it was a lighter fudgier flavor with little coffee flavor. I generally don’t like chocolate froyo though...but coffee and chocolate can be a delicious combination...if the coffee flavor is strong enough but in this case it wasn’t.

I previously gave Sticky toffee pudding froyo the following review:

Sticky toffee pudding: “Moist, sweet sponge cake, made with chopped dates and covered with rich butter toffee.” I was dreading the taste of dates. The flavor is better than I expected because it doesn’t have intense date or butter toffee flavor. It’s creamy and mostly tastes like a nice muted butter toffee.

I spotted two new toppings: Heath bar pieces and chocolate covered espresso beans.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Yolato Frozen Yogurt Gelato Bar Review

Fro-yo girl here. I was recently lucky enough to be the recipient of Yolato frozen yogurt gelato bars. The bars are all natural, rbst free, cholesterol free, kosher and only 80 calories each. Each box contains four 61g bars. The frozen yogurt gelato bars are available in three flavors: Pomegranate, Naturalato, Blueberrato. I ate three and that’s still fewer calories than a typical cup of frozen yogurt.

* Naturalato: The bar has a soft, light texture (but maintains its shape). It’s creamy yet has that refreshing edge of a good frozen yogurt. It’s sweet but mildly tangy with a pleasant, sweet, clean aftertaste. It’s very light thanks to the gelato and melts in your mouth quickly. 

* Blueberrato: It’s a pretty bar with white and purple swirls. Blueberrato combines frozen yogurt gelato and blueberry acai sorbet. The texture is soft and light like the Naturalato. It’s sweeter than the Naturalato but still has that mild tanginess. The blueberry flavor is discernable but not so strong that you can’t appreciate the yogurt flavor and the naturalato flavor. 

* Pomegranate: The award-winning Pomegranato is my favorite of the three because it was the tangiest and also seemed the creamiest. It had that same light, soft, melt in your mouth texture with white and reddish pink swirls (pomegranate sorbet). The sweetness and yogurt tang linger on your palate.

Having tried a variety of frozen yogurt bars, I’ve found that some are really icy and hard, some don’t taste like yogurt, and others might be healthy are lacking in flavor. Yolato provides a wonderful tasting bar that has the tanginess and flavor of frozen yogurt with a soft, light, silky texture. It's genius to combine frozen yogurt, gelato and sorbet in one bar.

Ingredients (Naturalato): Skim milk and milk, sugar, corn syrup, cultured skim milk, maltodextrin, stabilizer/emulsifier, citric acid, natural flavors, vitamin A palmitate, yogurt cultures

5 out of 5 stars

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

About Yolato

Yolato sells wholesale its proprietary frozen yogurt desserts to consumers via frozen yogurt shops, food service management companies, universities, cafes and grocery stores. Its product line consists of unparalleled novelty frozen yogurt gelato bars and a proprietary soft serve frozen yogurt and smoothie line.

For additional information, including where to find Yolato bars, visit the Yolato website.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Walking in a Winter Yogurtland Promotion Begins

Fro-yo girl here. Yogurtland kicked off its holiday promotion today, Walking in a Winter Yogurtland, with two new flavors every week and double points Monday - Wednesday with Real Rewards. My local Yogurtland looked quite festive today.

The holiday flavor schedule:

• November 11: Spiced apple cider sorbet & Salted caramel pecan
• November 18: Chocolate mocha & Sticky toffee pudding
• November 25: Cranberry orange tart & Butterscotch
• December 2: Chocolate mousse pie & Egg nog
• December 9: Vanilla custard & Cinnamon roll
• December 16: White chocolate peppermint & Raspberry pomegranate tat

As a tart froyo lover, I’m most looking forward to the cranberry orange tart. Vanilla custard also sounds delicious. The spiced apple cider definitely tasted of holiday spices. I’m not a cider fan...found myself wanting more tart apple flavor. It was sweet, not tart.

There won’t be holiday cups or spoons but I’m told some new toppings are on the way, including chocolate covered espresso beans and chocolate nonpareils.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Menchie’s Limited Edition Holiday Spoon & Cup

Fro-yo girl here. Nothing gets me in the holiday spirit more than holiday froyo cups and spoons. Menchie’s just came out with a new striped green holiday cup design. On one side Menchie says Merry Mixing and on the other, Chip says Joy to the Yumm. The limited edition red holiday spoon features Menchie in a Santa hat holding a candy cane and it says Merry Mixing! on it. Very festive.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Veterans Day Free Froyo at Menchie's

Fro-yo girl here. Happy Pre-Veterans Day and thank you vets, for your service to this country. Menchie’s has a special national offer just for you. Go to Menchie’s on Veterans Day (November 11th) for your cup of free frozen yogurt (up to 6 ounces). This offer is good for all veterans and active military personal. Must show military ID or proof of service.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Yogorino Closes SF Locations

Fro-yo girl here. It’s a sad time for Bay Area froyo. I just learned that Yogorino closed its two SF locations (Marina, Embarcadero) late last month (10/27?). I walked by the Embarcadero location hoping to get some frozen yogurt. The hours weren’t posted and it didn’t say it was closed for good, but the blue cups were no longer visible. The phone number is no longer in service.

I remember when they opened in 2011 with the tagline “the best tasting yogurt in the world.” Yogorino had unique, high quality Italian style frozen yogurt with an extra creamy, light texture and Italian dessert sauces. It was the favorite of Mr. Froyo. We are saddened by the loss of such quality frozen yogurt and will miss Yogorino. They still have locations in NYC and Philadelphia.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* YOGORINO: 50 Drumm St., San Francisco, CA* YOGORINO: 2144 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.