By Michele Stueven
Dessert company Yoga-urt will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Saturday, July 12, marking a decade of its signature plant-based soft serve. Known for its creamy 100% dairy-free soft serve, all Yoga-urt locations will offer a new flavor, custom commemorative bamboo spoons for the first 50 customers at each location, a limited-edition birthday sundae, $1 off all soft serve bowls from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (one per customer), and the debut of new waffle cones made of homemade almond milk and almond flour.
Founded by Melissa Schulman, each batch of soft serve is made in-house from a base of hand-squeezed almond and cashew milk, infused with probiotics and free from dairy, soy, gluten, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives.
With over 35 original flavors-including fan favorites like Chocolate Bliss, Salted Caramel Zen, Strawberry Serenity, and Papa’s Boysenberry Yoga-urt also has smoothies, kombucha floats, shakes, banana splits, soft serve pies, ice cream cookie sandwiches, and pints to-go.
Smorgasburg’s Ice Cream Alley returns on Sunday, July 6, and will feature a lineup of pop-up vendors, new and old, as well as full-time frozen treat vendors, most of whom got their start at Smorgasburg by first popping up inside Ice Cream Alley.
This summertime favorite will run every Sunday through August 31, inside the entrance to Smorgasburg LA. Here is a list of the vendors you can expect to find this Sunday at the official launch:
626 Hospitality Group – Returning to Ice Cream Alley for the 5th year in a row, this community-inspired, chef-driven soft serve shop honors the flavors of the San Gabriel Valley with their special, only-available-at-Smorgasburg ice cream drinks, sparklers, and affogatos. Lefty Gelateria – Small Batch gelato from Michelin Awarded Chef Suyoung Park (from Jungsik in Seoul and New York City), featuring flavors like Date & Pecan and matcha, alongside seasonal sundaes, like their sweet potato gelato with a creme brûlée top.Mateo’s Ice Cream & Fruit Bars – This legendary Los Angeles neighborhood favorite will be bringing their truck to Smorgasburg for the first time to serve their huge menu of nieves and famous paletas. Pampas Heladas Argentinos – Artisanal crafted Argentinian Helados, with flavors like rich South American chocolate, dulce de leche, pistachio, and flan, served with classic dulce de leche stuffed treats like alfajores and cubanitos. Leftys Gelateria (Courtesy Smorgasburg)
Plus Smorgasburg resident vendors:
Bernie’s – Chef-driven shaved granita shaved ice made with real fruit and topped with a signature homemade toasted marshmallow. Moom Maam Thai Gelato – Think: Mad Scientist making Thai gelato, famous for their mango sticky rice ice sundae served with actual sticky rice inside a homemade waffle bowl. Gained their Smorgasburg residency after their debut at Ice Cream Alley 2023Sad Girl Creamery – A small batch Latina-owned and operated creamery serving popular nostalgic Latin-inspired ice cream tacos and small batch ice cream, while also raising awareness about mental health issues.
What’s Popping Up is a column in the L.A. Weekly that explores everything new in food and drink.