UPPER WEST SIDE — A childhood treat is getting a gourmet makeover at a new Upper West Side sweets shop.
Treat House, slated to open on Amsterdam Avenue between 81st and 82nd streets in early August, is offering a twist on traditional Rice Krispies Treats by topping the marshmallow-filled squares with dark chocolate, raspberries, peanut butter and more.
The crunchy confections, in flavors that include Birthday Cake and Caramel Fleur de Sel, will mostly be Kosher, gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free, owner Chris Russell said on the bakery's website.
The idea for the shop came from Russell's children, Daniel and Eli, who dreamed up some innovative Rice Krispies treat flavors with their father for a bake sale to raise money for charity in September 2011.
"After a couple of hours, some sticky little fingers, and some licked-clean bowls later," the bakery's website says, "they had created three flavors of treats: Mint-Chocolate Cookie, Butter Scotch Sprinkle and Cherry-Dark Chocolate. Accompanied by [mother] Jennifer [Russell] they took the treats to their street corner and set up shop on their old lemonade stand."
The bake sale went so well that Chris Russell, former director of operations at Southern Hospitality and an owner of Moomba and TanDa, decided to team up with Wendy Israel, a pastry chef he'd worked with previously, to launch a shop dedicated to the sticky sweets.
Treats House will make their own marshmallows using cane sugar instead of corn syrup, along with breakfast bars out of brown rice, oats, flax, dried fruits and seeds.
