Rice to Riches, New York, N.Y. (Manhattan)

After our pizza experience in So-Ho at Lombardi's, Ian wanted dessert, so we went across the street to a unique dessert shop called Rice to Riches, a speciality place serving only different varieties of rice puddings.  I don't know if there are other rice pudding shops elsewhere in the country, but this was a new concept to me.

The shop is a long, narrow, deep store with a long counter that looks much like a futuristic ice cream store.  They seemed to have dozens of flavors and varieties of rice pudding, and a huge selection of toppings and add-ins to be mixed into a pudding dish.  We split a 14-ounce bowl ($8.50) and chose two different flavors.  Ian picked "Coast to Coast Cheesecake" (though he almost got the "Cinnamon Sling with Raisins") and I got "Man-Made Mascarpone with Cherries."  Side by side in the bowl, it was hard to see which was which, but they both had very distinct and delicious flavors.  The puddings are served in translucent orange heavy plastic bowls with lids (Ian took it home to use as "Tupperware") and in lieu of spoons we got these little flat, stylized plastic paddles.

I really enjoyed Rice to Riches, and I'm going to convince myself that it's much healthier to be eating rice pudding than just plain old ice cream!