Memorial Day weekend marks the start of summer and it’s evident here in NYC by the 90 degree weather. No doubt, summer in the city has begun. Farewell Spring, your allergies and fair weather, we knew ye too briefly. Greetings to Summer, the time of sweat, stink, and storefronts that pump AC onto the streets. There really is no mixture of smells like those you encounter walking down a New York City street at 3PM on a sweltering day: Body odor, drying puke from the night before, piss, poo, fish, general garbage, coffee, tobacco, perfume, antiseptic. All of this on one block.
Last week, a new storefront opened for business on 1st Ave: Cecel cafe crepe. We stumbled across it tonight and decided to go with the recommended Apple Titan. I’m not sure if it was named after a mythical titan or perhaps was just a mispelling of “tartine” but the quality was excellent. The crepe was delicate and fluffy. The apples were crisp and the entire affair was suitably sweet, but not too sweet. A lovely dessert cream was included in the cone shaped crepe and added a nice richness to an otherwise fruity flavor. All told, this was a lovely find on a 80 degree summer evening.

I was less than excited about the $7.50 price tag, but for the quality, the price seems reasonable, if not affordable. I’ll be back to try these varieties:

• Sweet
• Red bean & strawberry
• Red bean & cinammon
• Double mango
• Savory
• Hijiki salad
• Potato salad prosciutto

The place is run by Kaz Yokoi, formerly of Sushi of Gari and Patisserie Payard. I’ve never been to Payard, but I could’ve sworn that I’d seen the crepe chef at Gari before. It seems like it has legs - we’ll see if we can get a few more rounds in before the locusts arrive.