A couple of weeks ago I was at the Union Street Fair in San Francisco, and it was a hot day to be outside. So the Cultivé Frozen Yogurt’s grand opening sign caught my eye and I went in for a try.
Looking at its website, Cultivé appears to be from the Davis area near Sacramento, and the Union Street store is its first in San Francisco (they have another store in Vacaville). It’s one of 
those make-your-own fro-yo spots where you pay by the pound. Here they charge 43 cents an ounce.
Of course, with a street fair outside its doorsteps, Cultivé had quite a line on this Saturday. As I waited, I could see that they had several fro-yo dispensing stations with flavors like white chocolate macadamia, raspberry, green tea, pineapple, mango and original. (A couple of dispensers weren’t working right so I couldn’t try flavors like raspberry or white chocolate macadamia.)
I ended up getting a cup filled with peach, honey dew and the original tart. For the toppings, there were a lot of options in the dry bin (all kinds of nuts and cereals) and a colorful array of fruit. Although, I have to say that on this day the fruits looked a bit tired, and I ended up just getting a little bit of fresh strawberries and blueberries. I also threw in a couple of chunks of brownies because I remember how nice it was to have fro-yo with brownies bits when I tried it at Fraiche.
When I ate my cup, which was actually quite big (I ended up paying more than $5), I felt the texture of the fro-yo was a bit thin, almost watery. The peach didn’t have a nice flavor and the original was just OK. But I did like the honey dew, mostly because I love any kind of melon flavor, but the honey dew not only had a nice subtle sweet flavor like the fruit but the texture was a bit more creamy than the others I tried.
In the end, I wasn’t impressed with the yogurt at Cultivé. While some of the flavors were different and unique, I just wasn’t that thrilled about the texture and the toppings definitely needed some refreshing.
Single Guy’s Fro-yo Rankings:
1. Red Mango, Palo Alto
2. Pinkberry, Southern California and San Jose
3. Fraiche, Palo Alto and San Francisco
4. Tuttimelon, San Francisco
5. YoCup, San Francisco
6. Icebee, San Francisco
7. Yoppi, San Francisco
8. Jubili, San Francisco
9. Tutti Frutti, Oakland
10. SoGreen, San Francisco
11. Yogurt Harmony, Berkeley
12. Creations, Berkeley
13. Cultivé Frozen Yogurt, San Francisco
14. Yogen Früz, San Francisco
Cultivé Frozen Yogurt, 1998 Union St. (at Buchanan), San Francisco. PH: 415.345.8865. www.cultiveyogurt.com
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4 comments:
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one doing a city-wide ranking of froyo! I work in the heart of DC and we're lucky enough to have at least a half-dozen different froyo shops within walking distance. My co-workers and I are are determined to find the best froyo in the city... so far Mr. Yogato has our vote if you're ever in town.
Did I tell you they closed the Red Mango I used to go to in San Carlos? So bummed. But since I have relatives in Davis, maybe I can try the Cultive Frozen Yogurt there this weekend!
This toasty weather of late definitely puts one in the mood for some good fro-yo. Too bad this one tasted so thin. That's disappointing. And tired looking fruit? No excuse for that now that summer's practically here. ;)
Jennifer, that's a funny name, Mr. Yogato!
Mrs. L, do you go to the Red Mango in Palo Alto? I love Red Mango.
Carolyn, another fro-yo spot opened near my neighborhood. I'm so happy it's good, made up for trying Cultive. I'm posting about it next week.
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