The proof is in the pudding

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 6, 1995 by Pamela Parseghian

"People love puddings because they are gooey, creamy and comforting -- like Mom used to make," says Wendy Brucker, chefowner of Rivoli in Berkeley, Calif.

Currently, Brucker and others find soft and flavorful puddings sell surprisingly well in restaurants.

But they aren't selling mundane, boxed-type pudding. Instead, restaurants are offering mostly house-made bread pudding. And savory, steamed and gussied-up smooth puddings are finding a place on menus as well.

Puddings even may firm up a place in the multiunit arena. Entrepreneur Don Perrin is betting his bread on puddings.

Perrin is close to opening his first Pudding It First store in Brookline, Mass., and he plans to extend it to a chain of pudding shops serving up from 12 to 20 flavors of pudding -- similar to an ice cream parlor.

Perrin leased a space for a central pudding commissary and hired an accomplished chef, Odette Bery, as general manager.

Puddings are certainly at home in the quickcomfort market, along with other homey foods such as rotisserie chicken, pot pie and mashed potatoes.

And like other popular homey dishes, the dessert's low food cost adds to the delight for operators and consumers alike. A low labor cost is simply a sweet aside.

"Puddings are easy to make ahead and they hold well," says Brucker, who attributes some of the interest in the dessert to the fact that many of her customers are not inclined to stir up puddings at home.

Currently Brucker serves classic chocolate pots de creme -- a rich French pudding. She also surprises diners with a savory pudding of tomato, basil and ricotta. This savory idea throws some customers off since many expect pudding only for dessert. But once guests understand that the dish is a nonsweetened creamy side dish that accompanies grilled meats, they say, "Oh, that sounds really good."

Diane Forley, who recently opened Verbena restaurant in New York City, says, "I think people find bread pudding to be comforting, nostalgic and easy to eat."

However, few diners grew up with such out-of-the ordinary puddings as those Forley serves.

Her fanciful winter bread pudding, $7, is spiked with dried apricots, figs and prunes. She encases the dessert in caramelized brown sugar and tops it with eggnog ice cream, bourbon caramel sauce and hazelnut praline.

Currently, bread puddings grace dessert menus in every segment of the industry, from fancy trend-setting restaurants to steak-house chains.

Ruth's Chris Steak House with 46 locations around the country serves a bread pudding with whiskey sauce, $3.50. The Pillar House in Newton Lower Falls, Mass., accompanies pecan-crusted chicken with cranberry bread pudding. And Matthew's, a trendy spot on New York's Upper East Side, recently featured apple polenta bread pudding with hard sauce, $8.

Victor's Cafe in Miami and New York offers a rum-laced coconut bread pudding. The popular Carmine's, with two bustling locations in Manhattan, mounds chocolate chip bread pudding, $8, on platters large enough to serve four hungry guests.

On California's Mendocino coast, Margaret Fox and Christopher Kump top crispy bread pudding with creamy maple-whiskey sauce, $5.25, at their Cafe Beaujolais.

Recently, Blinda Hulin-Salkin, food editor of the Florida Times Union, conducted a bread pudding tour of New Orleans and was most impressed with a white chocolate bread pudding from the Palace Cafe. She says the dish "is likely to be your last meal because your arteries will slam shut, but it will be worth it."

Hulin-Salkin finds pudding "on virtually every menu in northeast Florida, even in fancier restaurants that have some type of custard or creme brulee, which is pudding also."

At Stars Cafe in San francisco, Emily Luchetti prepares bread pudding with rich brioche bread, dried apricots, sour cherries and Bourbon creme anglaise.

Stars restaurant has had steamed pudding on the menu since opening day because the dish has been a smash hit.

"People think steamed puddings are heavy and should be doorstops, but they are really good," Luchetti says.

Currently Stars offers persimmon steamed pudding with kumquat compote. In the past, Luchetti has had steamed cranberry, blueberry and chocolate brownie puddings.

Brew Moon, which recently opened in Boston, steams a dense chocolate pudding in pale ale, which reaffirms the beer theme. The $5 pudding comes with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

To warm up cold winter diners, First restaurant in Manhattan dishes up warm chocolate pudding cake with coffee ice cream, $5.

And Tap Tap, a newcomer to Miami's South Beach scene, features sweet potato pudding, known as pen patat, $3, as well as other traditional Haitian dishes. The dessert entices curious dinners who want to learn about Haitian cuisine, reports owner Gina Cunningham. "At the moment, people are interested in the nature of Haitian cuisine and tropical Caribbean cooking," she says.

Peter Zimmer says he prepares traditional Native American puddings at the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, N.M., since his food contributes to the restaurant's regional theme.