Rice Krispies Treats were originally named Marshmallow
Squares, back when a company could actually miss a chance to name a thing after
one of its brands. The Squares were likewise humble. This made them ripe for
elevation. And they have now gotten that in the form of a store all their own,
named Treat House.
The Bubble Gum Treat, for instance, is topped by a wad of
Dubble Bubble. The Mint Chocolate Chip Treat is topped by a section of chocolate
mint patty. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Treat sports a jaunty chocolate peanut
butter cup, and the M&M treat, needless to say, is crowned by M&M’s.
These are gourmet Treats. They have been created by a pastry
chef. They make a better appearance at, say, your wedding reception, than gobs
from a blob. This explains why Treat House makes its home on the Upper West
Side, and why one Treat costs almost as much as a box of Rice Krispies on sale.
Still, Treat House is
not stuck up. It is a playful place. “Treat House” sounds like “treehouse,” so
the shop has treehouse décor. It makes creative use of logs. And in the back
you can sit on a stump and dine on Treats in a room that looks like it belongs on
a branch.
It all began in 1939. That’s reportedly when Mildred Day and
Malitta Jensen of the Kellogg’s company invented Marshmallow Squares. Legend
has it that they invented them as a fund-raiser for the Camp Fire Girls, but it
seems more likely that they invented them as a fund-raiser for Kellogg’s.
Chris, with the help of the boys and his wife, Jennifer,
came up with three Treats: Chocolate Mint, Butterscotch Sprinkle, and Raspberry
Chocolate. The Treats sold out in two hours and netted $300. “A couple of weeks
later,” Chris says, “it dawned on my wife and me that there were so many
potential flavor combinations.”
They enlisted the pastry chef, Wendy Israel, and everyone pitched
flavors. They spent two years determining their Treat choices and techniques.
“We learned early on,” Chris says, “that if you just add ingredients to crisp
rice cereal, you get soggy crisp rice cereal, and nobody wants that.”
Treat House has been a smash. But for some customers,
the Treats take adjusting. “They’re not traditional Rice Krispies Treats,”
Chris explains. (They’re also not made with Rice Krispies.) “We pack them
denser than you would at home. So sometimes people’s expectations of what it should taste like are different from
what it does taste like.”
Fortunately, Chris believed that I should draw my own
conclusions. He gave me several samples
of Treat House Treats. I adjusted quickly. They were delightful. I was
impressed that the Raspberry Chocolate tasted like raspberry, and that the
M&M had M&Ms inside as well as on top.
The shop also has Treat Pops, Treat Breakfast Bars, and Treat
Ice Cream Bars. The Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Bar is what I’ll eat daily when I
decide to let myself go. The flavors change, but there is always a
choice of at least 12 Treats. And 10 cents per Treat goes to the Food Bank For New York
City, so the more you eat, the more philanthropic you are.
Chris was once an owner of the once red-hot restaurant
Moomba. This place is different, of course. But then again, in a way it’s the
same.
“If you want a two-dollar brick of Rice Krispies, you go the
deli,” Chris says. “If you want something a little more sophisticated, you come
here.”
