If Lee is a little defensive, and protecting the recipe as if it's a state secret, it's because Pinkberry has caused its fair share of controversy since its first outlet opened in 2005, serving just two flavors: plain and green tea.
Within a year, the tiny West Hollywood shop was drawing 3,000 customers a day, most of them self-described Pinkberry addicts willing to risk parking tickets to stand in a line that snaked around the block. Neighbors wanted Pinkberry to move, but the city negotiated a compromise. Security guards and workers now help pick up litter and dissuade parking scofflaws.
Since then, 17 other stores have opened, and six more are coming in the next few weeks to Little Tokyo, Belmont Shore, Topanga Canyon, Beverly Hills, Lakewood and New York.
Competitors are vying for a piece of the success. Among the hatched frozen yogurt shops: Kiwiberry, Mr. Snowberry, Roseberry and Berri Good.
As a Pinkberry buzz has built, skeptics have questioned what's in it and whether it's as low-cal as it claims.
One customer said the hype reminded her of a famous "Seinfeld" episode in which Jerry and Elaine gain weight eating loads of "nonfat" yogurt. They finally test the yogurt only to discover that it's not really fat-free.
"I hope that episode wasn't foreshadowing Pinkberry's ending," one Angeleno wrote on the Giantrobot.com blog.
On Wednesday, Sandy Hsu, 26, a tourist from New Jersey, trekked to the Pinkberry store in Koreatown after a friend e-mailed her a photo of Paris Hilton spooning up the treat.
Hsu didn't seem to care what was in the icy concoction, but said it didn't live up to the hype: "It's not super good like I think I'd come back."
Regulars, though, said they were hooked.
"It just tastes good, and I'm not a frozen yogurt connoisseur by any means," said 19-year-old USC student Andrew Wilson.
Austin Cho, 27, agreed: "If it tastes like yogurt, I don't really care. Just as long as it's healthy."
He paused, peering into his frozen snack: "Is it healthy?"
*
kimi.yoshino@latimes.com
*
Begin text of infobox
State's stand
The state requires that businesses serving soft-serve frozen yogurt meet these standards:
Frozen yogurt mix must be obtained from a licensed manufacturer of milk products
Frozen yogurt mix shall be obtained in pre-flavored form unless fruits or flavoring are added by the operator directly from factory-filled containers.
Frozen yogurt mix must not be reconstituted or have anything added other than fruits and flavorings.
Frozen yogurt mix must be manufactured into a semi-frozen state without adulteration.
Frozen yogurt must not be salvaged from a freezing device and reused as a mix.
*
Source: California Department of Food and Agriculture
