Food

Hidden Treasures

Troves of rice, hookah and jewelry await visitors in NYC

by Hilary Hughes and Hannah Kinney

Wednesday October 12, 2005

Rice to Riches
37 Spring St. (between Mott and Mulberry St.)
http://www.ricetoriches.com
Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-11p.m.
Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-12 a.m.
Sun 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

If you’re a rice pudding aficionado, or if you just kind of like how your mom used to make it, or even if it completely grosses you out, you should definitely check out Rice to Riches the next time you’re in SoHo.

This rice pudding bar looks as though it was transported from the Jetson’s living room, with menus on flat screen TVs and fluorescent murals of fruit lighting up the walls. The selection is more than accommodating: there are 24 flavors ranging from the standard Classic Rice Pudding to Cuban Rum Raisin and Pineapple.

The toppings are extra but worth the additional quarters you’d save for laundry. The whipped cream is the fresh stuff, not from a can, and none of the other ingredients are artificial or from concentrate. For $6 you can mix two flavors and you get a portion big enough to share with another person. (A friend and I tried the Chocolate with raisins and peanut butter and we were practically fighting for the last spoonful.)

It’s cheap, delicious and yet another reason to trek below Houston!

Cozy Cafe
43 E. 1st St. (between 1st and 2nd Avenue)
Every day 12 p.m.-4 a.m.
(Belly dancers perform Fri and Sat)

The Lower East Side is home to the best hookah bars in the city so I wasn’t surprised when we stumbled upon this wonderful Middle Eastern restaurant and hookah lounge. Cozy Cafe is just that.

The restaurant itself is small and very homey, with a beautiful whitewashed fireplace, overstuffed couches and an intimately lit back patio when the weather behaves. If you go during the week, chances are you’ll spend some quality time with Sharif, the owner. He likes to spend time with patrons just hang out abd who are able to smoke one of the 69 decadently flavored tobaccos and (if you’re of age) drink homemade sangria.

For the non-smoker and non-drinker, the lamb steak Sharif’s wife prepares is more than reason to check it out.

Wacky, flashy, and tacky
Jewelry vendor in Chelsea
24th St. (between 6th and 7th Avenue)
Saturday morning and afternoon

Shoved into an empty parking garage every Saturday is what my midwestern mother calls a "New York garage sale." Covering tables and racks on two floors are vintage clothes, old records, paintings and just about everything in between.

My favorite vendor, with the best gaudy loot, is a man who sells jewelry in the back right corner. Since it is a garage sale there are no store names, but you will recognize it by the florescent paper signs (twelve for $10 dollars) and jewelry (three for $10).

There are some things that should have been left in the Eighties, but mixed in are some really rad pieces. There are hundreds of pairs of earrings, numerous pins and quite a few necklaces and bracelets. All of these come in a variety of styles, colors and levels of tackiness and very few are the same.

Scattered around are boxes full of beads. Just be careful that the bags you grab are really beads because I accidentally bought a lovely bag of rocks. I was much happier with the other purchases I made, my favorite being a bohemian glass beaded necklace that could be found at a department store for far more than the $10 paid. (Note: this was one of the most expensive pieces this man was selling.)

I also snatched up a swanky pair of purple and gold earrings for a dollar and a fabulous mood ring for $3. Not everything is practical, but it is all wonderful in its own way.

Don’t be afraid to be a big spender, you’ll find somewhere to wear it. Remember, it’s okay to be loud every once and a while.