Valiant Bwog reporter Dan D'Addario tries coffee-flavored Pinkberry... so you don't have to.

The week before classes started was idyllic. I had moved back into my dorm early and my days went from movies to dinner to bar to bed. And yet, one thing happened that left a bad taste in my mouth, a literal bad taste.

An employee standing on the sidewalk was offering free samples of coffee-flavored Pinkberry, the latest flavor to "swirl" from the minds of those twisted L.A. geniuses. I'd actually enjoyed the original and green-tea flavors, so I tried it, and was swept into tastebud hell.

Imagine the worst aspects of coffee - old coffee, that's been sitting on the pot for hours and been reduced to charred, bitter, coffee ashes, that clench your intestinal tract with a single sip. Now make it a sour yogurt. Mmm.

The winds of change (and frigid, seasonal air) are a'blowin' in Morningside. Beginning with Toast, everyone's favorite spot for a second or third date. Toast has relocated from its previous location on Broadway between LaSalle and Tiemann (right near 125th) and has taken up residence in Carne's old spot on Broadway and 105th. With Manhattanville's development in the works, this seems a bit counter-intuitive to Bwog, as property values in precisely Toast's old location are sure to skyrocket. Nonetheless, we look forward to schlepping just as far to Toast, this time in the other direction.

Farther up on Broadway, big news for Pinkberry devotees in the form of its latest flavor addition: coffee. Bwog picked the brain of Pinkberry cashier Shadenia who explained that many customers have been sampling coffee, but not many have been ordering it. "They have to get used to it." Those quickly-adapting coffee converts are enjoying the new flavor with chestnuts, a new seasonal topping. (To those following Pinkberry's seasonal ingredients, winter's chestnut is replacing fall's pomegranate seeds.) "I'm not really a coffee person," said Shadenia, quite seriously.

Bwog observed six customers in Pinkberry, none with coffee. Melanie and Angela ate original and green tea, respectively. They seem underwhelmed about the addition of the coffee flavor and had no plans to try it. "It's the same category as green tea," Angela explained. Bwog asked for clarification. "There's original. And then the other flavors are green tea and coffee." Brows furrowed, Bwog exited Pinkberry.

And no recapitulation of developments in Columbia and its environs would be complete without a salute to the new EC elevators. The vaguely space station-y silver elevators are just as sterile and ugly (metal mesh!) as the old EC elevators, the design of which Bwog can barely remember.

- JNW

Or was, circa 10:30 PM.

We presume the novelty will wear off soon.

Pinkberry, the hotly anticipated SoCal fro-yo chain, has finally opened its doors in Morningside Heights!

The interior is sleek and colorful, the chairs are plastic and transparent, and the shelves stocked with decorative Japanese kitsch. The ceiling is painted sky-blue and during Bwog's all-too-brief pit-stop at Pinkberry, the music rotated from Moby to Musak.

And what of the Pinkberry itself? Well, firstly, what is it? Bwog's Pinkberry-transporter box (apparently Pinkberry melts extremely quickly) read: Contains Swirly Goodness. Swirly Goodness comes in two flavors: Original and Green Tea. Isabelle, a long-time Pinkberry-lover told Bwog she preferred the Original to the Green Tea. So did Joan and Emily, some first-timers who decided against the Green Tea for their trial Pinkberry run.

The sparseness of the flavor choices is made up for in the assortment of toppings: Chocolate chips, yogurt chips, almond slices, cookies and cream, granola, Cocoa Puffs, Fruity Pebbles, Cap'n Crunch, and fresh fruits such as pomegranate, strawberry, pineapple, kiwi, and raspberry. Each topping costs $.95 (A small Pinkberry will set you back $2.95). Pinkberry employees Heather and Ornella reported that Original is far outselling Green Tea, while today's most popular toppings have been chocolate chip and strawberries.

Columbians have already began making the store feel like home. At the three circular tables, a B-School-looking type was pounding away at his Blackberry in between scarfing down bites of Original with Cocoa Puffs.

"Yeah, we've never had Pinkberry, but we're excited to try. We've heard it's different from Tasti," commented Emily, referring to the far inferior fro-yo distributer located above Ferris. "Tasti?" scoffed long-time Pinkberryer Isabel. "I don't even remember what that tastes like!" May we all be so lucky one day.

- JNW, photo by SEV

UPDATE 10:42 PM: Visit their website to hear the Pinkberry Song. "Pinkberry for me, Pinkberry! P-I-N-K-B-E-R-R-Y." Why yes of course there's also a remix. (Virtual, extra-large Pinkberry to Hannah Goldfield)

The arrival of Pinkberry is imminent, so Bwog took to the fourth floor of Lerner to find out how Columbia's most convenient froyo chain is handling the news.

Bwog: Hey, can I ask you a question.
Elizabeth, Tasti employee: Sure.
Bwog: What do you think about the fact that Pinkberry is opening down the street?
Elizabeth: (silence)
Bwog: It's another frozen yogurt chain. It's opening a few blocks away.
Elizabeth: Oh, um. Nothing.
Bwog: You feel nothing?
Elizabeth: I guess. I don't know.
Bwog: So Tasti is not doing anything in the way of special offers or lower prices or advertising to reach out to hypothetical Pinkberry-converts?
Elizabeth: Guess not.
...

Bwog: Hi, do you guys eat regularly at Tasti?
Alli and Jenny, first years: Yeah.
Bwog: Cool, so what do you think is going to change now that Pinkberry is coming?
Alli: I've never had it, but I've heard it had all that weird stuff it in.
Bwog: What kind of weird stuff?
Alli: I don't know, like weird animals.
Bwog: Pinkberry has weird animals in it?
Alli: That's what I heard.
Jenny: We'll probably try it once.