I thought I hated rice pudding. Actually I did hate it.

My first taste of rice pudding was probably at the Charl-Mont, a now-shuttered department store restaurant I dined at hundreds of times in my childhood and where I had later worked as a [terrible waitress]. I remember a milky pudding with random grains of rice.

Disgusted, I couldn’t understand how my mother could like rice pudding. Blech. I avoided it for year.

When I moved back to NYC, I heard about Rice to Riches. In spite of my distaste for the gloppy dessert, I always planned to take my mother there.

Instead, we’d go to Pellegrino’s, planning to save room for dessert and make a stop at RtR.

 

Take note: there’s no escaping Pellegrino’s with any stomach space remaining.

Finally, I made a solo stop at Rice to Riches on my way to a midday meal at Pellegrino’s with Mom and some of her friends. 

I don’t know what I expected but…wow! All of the flavor choices and toppings at Rice to Riches made my head spin. And that’s what got me to taste for myself and not just pick flavors I thought Mom would like.

Guess what? I loved the rice puddings. The texture was more like oatmeal, which I love, than the nasty soupy product I sampled years ago.

I bought rum raisin and butterscotch rice pudding for Mom with a side of cherries. And a small caramel flavored rice pudding for myself!

Further proof that a set-in-her-ways picky eater can learn to appreciate new tastes.

PS while Rice to Riches is generous with samples, I do not recommend going in with this mindset.