I have a little obsession with yogurt. It all started when I went to New York with Jodi, Tara, and Charlotte and Tara introduced us to 40 Carrots, the cafe inside Bloomingdale's. The food is great (Sonoma chicken salad sandwich on cranberry bread. Yum!), but the real reason we go there is the yogurt.

Bloomingdale's soft serve frozen yogurt will change your life. I tell people this regularly, and I think I have converted a few people since my own eye-opening experience. First of all, it's sour, like real yogurt. This is not TCBY. And it's creamy and smooth and quite addictive.

After I had experienced this wonderful phenomenon, I was on a hunt for something similar in Boston. I found Berryline in Harvard Square, which is close. Apparently Pinkberry in California is also of the same vein. (Also, the song on the Pinkberry website is hilarious.) But then the Bloomingdale's in Chestnut Hill opened a 40 Carrots and I was able to stay true to my first love.

Tangent: I was walking through Bloomingdale's one day when I saw the construction in the corner and the sign: "Coming Soon: 40 Carrots". I practically accosted the girl at the Bobbi Brown counter.

Alli: Is 40 Carrots opening here? [hands splayed on the counter, far too dramatic for the question]
Girl at Bobbi Brown: Um.. yes [small step back, casually reaching for some sharp tweezers]
A: Will they have yogurt?!?! [a little breathless, pitifully hopeful]
G@BB: Um, I guess? [Whatever you say crazy lady, just leave me alone.]

So the 40 Carrots in Chestnut Hill opened in February and we left Boston in mid-May. For three blissful months, I had access to Bloomingdale's yogurt whenever I wanted [to drive to Chestnut Hill].

Fast forward to now, in Singapore. Kyle and I are walking through one of the (many, many) malls in Singapore and we see J. Co, a donut company. And there, at the J. Co, is a picture of yogurt looking like it could be the same kind of thing. So of course we buy some, and lo and behold: sour yogurt! Later Emily sends a text message saying that she's spotted Yami yogurt another contender. She didn't try it, but it might be the same.

Yesterday, Emily and I staged the Great Yogurt Taste-Off: Yami vs. J. Co.And the winner is:


Although J. Co is good, Yami is less icy, less sweet, tart, creamy, and dense. I'm not about to suggest that it could replace Bloomingdale's. That would call for another head to head comparison which would be a little tricky with the 24 hour plane ride and the melting. But it'll certainly keep me happy here.