Spring break may be a month away, but traditional French treats are only a few blocks from your bedroom with the opening of the new Crepes Choupette location on Broadway's island. Owner Adil Chokairy began Crepes Choupette as a food cart, then opened up his first brick-and-mortar location on Whitney Ave (one of the few advantages to living in TD) before expanding to the new outpost on Broadway.
Although quite small, the new location offers a cozy, traditional French atmosphere and friendly service in addition to the mouthwatering crepes. Of course, we had to sample both sweet and savory crepes to get the full experience. Here's what we thought:
Savory
The savory crepes are usually made with buckwheat flour for a more rustic taste, but we had ours with whole wheat flour, which was still delicious and slightly nutty. Crepes Choupette offers the Provençale, a fig spread topped with creamy brie; Place d'Italie, an elevated Caprese salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil; Chatelet, a ham and cheese; and the Complete, with ham, cheese, and egg (shown above).
The crepe base was soft, yet crispy on the edges, and the folded crepes were large enough for a meal. Many of the ingredients were found at local farmers markets, and the high-quality artisanal cheeses elevated the fresh ingredients in the crepes to a new level. Our favorite was the ham, cheese, and egg, but the savory and sweet fig and brie was a close second.
Sweet
For the most important meal of the day (dessert), we sampled the Traditionnelle, a simple but impressive butter and sugar crepe; Tintin, with speculoos (otherwise known as cookie butter, glorious by any name) and banana; Saint Germain, slathered with Nutella and bananas; and Confiture, with blueberry jam. The butter and sugar and blueberry crepes were thin and lightly sweet, while the speculoos and Nutella crepes were extra thick. The dessert crepes are definitely best while hot, so make sure to scarf them down before they have a chance to cool off.
These traditional crepes are the perfect filling treat. If you're looking for a sit-down lunch or dessert, head over to the larger shop on Whitney, but if you want to grab and go, stop by the new, convenient location on Broadway for your instant crepe fix. The smaller venue means a shorter menu, but the late-night hours on Friday and Saturday offer a major upgrade to your drunk eats.
Added bonus: Crepes Choupette is now on Snackpass, with 15% off the first purchase. Stop by for a welcoming atmosphere and a quick, authentic French meal.