If there’s a siren call to the young right now, it would sound like an Arctic yodel: “Frohhhhh yohhhhhh!”

The promise of frozen yoghurt (froyo) brings crowds of over-excited teens and young adults together as they queue for the pleasure of choosing their flavours, swirling their choices into paper cups, and adding all manner of sweet syrups, wafers, confectionery and sprinkles.

Froyo burst onto the Australian scene 12 years ago, and has grown into much more than a swirly, soft-serve, yoghurt-based, icy-cold treat.

The Aussie-owned Yo-Chi started in Melbourne and is expanding fast. Its tenth Sydney store has just moved into the prized waterside site vacated by Cirrus, a two-hatted seafood restaurant in popular work-and-play precinct Barangaroo.

“The interiors are Willy Wonka-fun places, as sparkly as little kids’ unicorns.”

It’s a sign of the times for an old codger like me, but for those at the other end of a lifetime of dining, it’s a great move. Why? Because frozen yoghurt is seen as a lighter, healthier choice than ice-cream. Because the interiors are Willy Wonka-fun places in which to get together with friends, as sparkly as little kids’ unicorns.

And because this generation loves to customise. Nobody is telling them what to order or what to eat. Nobody’s saying they can’t pile mini mochi onto butterscotch caramel syrup onto pistachio froyo with a side swirl of acai.

Getting a froyo is an incredibly rule-free, individual, self-serve process, which is probably what they love most of all. Once you’ve filled your cup, you just go to the weigh and pay station, then grab a cute stool under a disco ball and stay as long as you like.

Essentially, it’s a dessert bar and community centre for kids, and for people who want to relax and get together in a setting that doesn’t require alcohol. And the chefs are taking notice.

Federico Zanellato – known to most as the entrepreneurial chef behind Sydney’s Italian-Japanese degustation diner LuMi – has teamed up with a partner
to open Freo, a more adult, premium-quality froyo outlet next to Sydney Town Hall.

If this really is a trend, it might pay for fine diners to adopt a few of the same psychological strategies, or they could find themselves frozen out. Not by the franchises themselves, but by a new generation of guests accustomed to a no-rules, customisable, all-inclusive way of dining. With added sprinkles.

theemptyplate@goodweekend.com.au