Trendspotting: Manhattan

As I advance in years, I realize that I am increasingly insensitive to fashion trends, a fact which my college-age daughter approaches with the highest level of sensitivity that a person of candor can muster. I am grateful for her assistance. However, as a former Manhattanite, this reality comes at some cost. Nevertheless, I am sustained by the fact that I am a quick study when it comes to food trends.

So I was feeling fairly hip when I came across a little find in Manhattan last fall. Rice-to-Riches is a rice pudding bar which pushes all the contemporary taste and style buttons that yoghurt palaces like Red Mango, Pinkberry, or Yogurtland have brought to - I don't know, are we at Generation Z now?





The slogan above had a paradoxically centering effect, even in the midst of a crowd of NYU students in the bloom of youth. I found the number of choices kind of staggering, but I eventually settled on a portion of rum raisin rice pudding.









Upon leaving the store, I noticed this sign, which I had overlooked upon entering.
"Perhaps I do belong in Manhattan, after all," I thought.



Only a block or two away, my sense of trendworthiness evaporated when I spotted the following billboard and was utterly mystified. Could this be an image that is familiar to all New Yorkers in the know? In any case, my level of existential uncertainty could not have climbed more steeply than at that moment.



But crisis was averted with the appearance of this coffee cart. Fortunately, some things in Manhattan never change.



Rice to Riches
37 Spring Street
between Mott and Mulberry St,
New York, NY
(212) 274-0008

Oh yeah, they deliver. (I thought slackerdom was over, apparently not).
http://www.ricetoriches.com/frameset.ph ... rtpage.php

Wow. Makes me want to crawl downstairs and curl up fetal position while compulsively hugging my LP collection, mumbling "You know, the guy on "What not to Wear" went to Northwestern. They still might find me." under my breath. What exactly do they mean by man-made in reference to cheese?

Thank you, thank you for the picture of the coffee cart, Josephine!

Don't feel bad about not recognizing the billboard...I would wager that a majority New Yorkers are equally confused by it.

Apparently it's an ad for a show on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. I had never heard of it until I looked it up just now, but I'm not a big Adult Swim viewer.

But more to the point: thanks for the heads up on the rice pudding place! I passed the info on to my sister, who recently moved to NYC (East Village, specifically) and is still getting to know her new surroundings.

Khaopaat wrote:Don't feel bad about not recognizing the billboard...I would wager that a majority New Yorkers are equally confused by it.

Apparently it's an ad for a show on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. I had never heard of it until I looked it up just now, but I'm not a big Adult Swim viewer.

I suspect that little of LTH is the right demo for adult swim, but we've had our share of references to various adult swim shows.

Thanks, Khaopaat and gleam for bringing me up to speed on Adult Swim. If Aqua Teen Hunger Force (anthropomorphic fast-food superheroes per Wiki) needs a Middle-aged Mom character, rice pudding might make a fitting inspiration.

Whoa, a Rice to Riches sighting! It lives!

P.S.: Best truck coffee is Mud, best adult swim is Venture Bros.(current)/Home Movies(all-time).

Thanks for the props. Yes, Rice to Riches was already silly back in '06. The most interesting thing is RTR's emergence from the money laundering unpleasantness. http://gothamist.com/2005/02/03/rice_to ... g_ring.php

In the neighborhood, better bets are Spring St. Lounge/Shark Bar, Lombardi's, and Balthazar.

Went to Rice to Riches in '06. Really not good. Even RAB, who has a special place in his heart for rice pudding, didn't get it. Yuck. I'll take Il Laboratorio del Gelato instead, every day of the week.

Ronna

Stumbled across the rice pudding place last week. It's more or less right across the street from Lombardi's, which is what filled my gut and prevented me from buying any fancy-pants pudding.

Back on topic, I'm happy to report that, right across the street from the Concordia University Philosophy Department, is Montréal's first rice pudding place Riz en Folie, directed by star Montréal chef Deron Bergeron. Read about it here. Hey, if it's HOT in Montréal, it must be HOT per se. Eh?

Needless to say, students line up out the door for this wonderful homey stuff. I'm tempted, I must tell you, from time-to-time to brave the lines and give it a try.

Geo