Meet Hellenika, Seattle’s unique frozen treat

What is “cultured gelato”? At Hellenika, the frozen dessert is distinctly Seattle — and unusually delicious.

“Unlike anything I’ve had before — so creamy and indulgent without being overly sweet,” wrote one online reviewer. “Creamy, tangy, and so unique,” said another. “I’m still thinking about it,” wrote a New Yorker on Reddit after a visit to Seattle, trying unsuccessfully to find something comparable in Manhattan.

The treat, produced at Hellenika’s “cultured creamery” in Pike Place Market, is now carried at all PCC stores and is a The Talk of the Co-op pick. It isn’t exactly ice cream or frozen yogurt or soft serve or even standard gelato. “I don’t think there’s a category for what we do,” said co-founder Alex Apostolopoulos.

Spotlight on cultured gelato

At Hellenika headquarters in the Market, a blue-and-white tiled retail store with big windows looking into the working factory, Apostolopoulos explains how the process works.

A double-row of signature flavors like London Fog, made with tea from nearby Market Spice, and Honey Lavender, with honey from the Market’s Sunny Honey stand, are scooped fresh, directly from the churning machines.

“You don’t usually get to see it being made, let alone getting to try it straight from (the source),” he said. “

Most popular right now is a colorful purple Ube Coconut, with added texture from the namesake purple yam, joined by stalwarts like Lemon Curd and Marionberry.

If the last two flavors sound familiar — and if the whole setup sounds familiar, a cult-favorite Greek-influenced sweet dairy treat in Pike Place Market — it’s because the Apostolopoulos family was among the original founder of Ellenos Greek Yogurt. That yogurt company, now nationally distributed and with heavy-hitting outside investors, began as a tiny walk-up stand inside a Market produce stand.

The family, originally from Greece, later emigrated to Australia, and “we’ve always been in dairy,” Apostolous said. Hellenika feels like “the evolution of what we grew up doing — plus a little food science.”

Apostolous left Ellenos in 2022, looking to change his direction back to the creative side of the business — “coming back to the market, being here, doing it in front of everyone, having fun with food.”

He had no question that the historic Pike Place Market district would be the right place for a new endeavor, despite its strict rules on producers and products.

“When I moved here, that’s where I started…” he said. “It’s a really special place.”

Changing the Seattle ice cream game

His brother and co-founder Pete Apostolous (sister Connie is also a co-founder) earned a food science degree from Washington State University, and turns flavor ideas into lush reality. It’s all visible from the outside, from the pasteurizers heating milk from Edaleen dairy in Whatcom County to the scent of simmering lemon curd or cooked-down Oregon marionberries.

To create the base, the milk is cultured, just as yogurt or cheese would be. “Something we do as a family, that I don’t think anyone else does, is we mix (cultures),” Apostolous said.

“We use them in different portions. Some have different flavors, some are a bit more sweet, some of them are neutral, some have got a little more dairy flavor. We try to find that perfect balance so when you taste it, it’s hitting everything in your mouth.”

All flavors start out with the tangy-sweet plain version, with flavors added in.

What makes it unique? The fresh flavors, the cultures, the mouthfeel, the density, a resistance to icy crystallization, a not-too-rich preparation that Apostolous thinks helps the flavors shine, “when you don’t have to fight through all that fat.”

“It’s pretty simple ingredients, a very simple process, but it’s very labor-intensive. It’s hands-on.”

Ingredients that can be sourced locally are, he said — the eggs from the lemon curd, for instance, come from Wilcox Farms. Others are farther afield: “We do mango every so often, but we bring that from Australia,” he said.

Unique gelato flavors

Hellenika has a rotating seasonal flavor each month, and they add occasional experiments at the Pike Place store, like a warming gochujang with cinnamon, a “Seattle Fog” that takes their London Fog base and adds orange and activated charcoal, and a buttery miso-caramel made with Yoka Miso, a local company that, like them, has a regular table at the University District Farmers Market.

One of their favorite things, he said, is chatting with people at the factory store who found Hellenika in other places and come by to sample different flavors and find out more.

Starting with the farmers markets and the cheerful blue-and-white storefront (located in the old Bavarian Meats building, for longtime Market visitors), they’ve slowly expanded to the point where they can stock markets like PCC with pints. Apostolous can imagine some small additions and collaborations over time — but nothing on a huge scale.

“What we do is pretty special, and it’s difficult for a reason. So I don’t think there will be a point where it’s going to be everywhere.”