Sunday, May 06, 2012

Like the Robin of Spring, Street Dining Returns to NYC


There is a feeling in the air – a certain crispness, or vitality.  A sense of new life.

It is like witnessing the first signs of Spring.  You’re walking along 50th Street, and a bright robin redbreast flies across your path.  You turn, and you can’t help but notice a bright magenta vehicle at the curb, a whimsical illustration depicting the Eiffel Tower, and the savory scent of crepes wafting from the window.

Yes, it is Spring, and the food trucks have returned to Manhattan!  The annual ritual of street dining has begun anew.

 My jaw drops.  I had thought the food trucks were banished from Midtown forever, due to an arcane law enforced by a peevish and dyspeptic judge, but here I am staring at a line of colorful vehicles, and my nose is immediately drawn to The Crepes Truck.  
I quickly whip out my iPhone and put out an APB for my pal Marie Antoinette.   Alas, she is MIA.  A French epitaph escapes my lips.  Most of the time, Marie Antoinette is MIA.  I mean, what’s the point of having a cool French nickname, if you can’t even be available when the Crepes Truck is in town?
I step up to the window and order “A Frenchman” -- two savory crepes filled with Swiss cheese, goat cheese, tomatoes and shallots.   I can see the man in the window cooking two lacy-thin crepes on two giant flat steaming skillets.   
As the crepes cook, I consider the menu.   There’s also a selection of sweet crepes, and the Butter, Lemon and Sugar sweet crepe sounds mighty tasty.  I do what Zany would have done.  I order that too, because skipping dessert is just foolhardy. 

Just for fun, I ping Zany, who is probably having lunch at her desk in her drab office in Chicago.   I send her a photo of The Frenchman. 
“You’re killing me today … you know that?” she writes.  “I’m wasting away on a Spring salad over here.  It’s just not fair.”   

I, however, am in my own little Parisian paradise.   The Frenchman is indeed superior to a humdrum salad.  The hot, gooey cheese is wrapped in fragrant, nutty buckwheat crepes.   
And, I can’t resist the lemony citrus taste of the dessert crepes with just a slight, sugary crunch.   Magnifique!
Welcome to The Crepes Truck.   The sweet smell of Spring and crepes is in the air!
©2012 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved  

13 comments:

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

When you said the food trucks had returned to Manhattan, my first thought was like the swallows return to Capistrano.

I would have been first in line for the crepe truck. The gooey cheese one followed by a citrus lemon crunch would certainly make my day. Wishing you au revoir. I think that the French crepe truck might be your best yet T.W.
Sam

Anonymous said...

What a lovely food truck & so colourful too! Those filled crêpes, sweet & savoury sure looks so appetizing to me!
Yum Yum Yum!

Lucky you & lucky New Yorkers! ;)

Kat said...

Oh,I am so jealous of your food trucks! That cheese crepe looks divine!

Gloria Baker said...

love these trucks!! and love crepes!!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

It's clear you are in need of help, though who could ever really replace Zany and Mad? Next time I come to NYC, I will food truck lunch with you.

Zany said...

I'm still a little miffed...

Deana Sidney said...

I can never pass a food truck without thinking of you. I was around Union Square last week and saw a whole line of them... burgers, peruvian, Mexican... you name it they were there... a United Nations of trucks. The food looked terribly good but sadly I was on my way to a lunch meeting and couldn't give them a try. Will do, but now I'm craving that crepe truck... what a great idea.

Barbara said...

Are you going to have to find some new food truck addict-buddies? Zany and Mad will be missed, although it's nice to get their input, even if by phone.
Love buckwheat flour, so I'd be up for The Frenchman!

Catherine said...

Dear T.W., I have not been to NYC for a very long time. It certainly has become "chic".
I always enjoyed the hot dog trucks, but now there are crepe trucks!
That really is something. Glad that you enjoyed them. I never would have thought crepe trucks. I really am amazed! I guess you can tell, since I am going on and on....Blessings dear T.W.. Your Local Long Island friend, Catherine

Mary Bergfeld said...

Crepes from a truck? I am in awe. They sound delicious and I'm sure they were devoured. Have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

Fresh Local and Best said...

Just when I leave an influx of incredible food truck offerings and restaurants pop up. The lemon crepe sounds so wonderful. Now I have a great excuse to visit midtown.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I'd better not show Jeff this post. It'll give him one reason reason to try to convince me to move to NYC.

tasteofbeirut said...

There is a crêpe joint in front of the American college here, they make very thin crêpes but these look way superior in taste! Sounds like a truck to go back to.