There’s no shortage of niche food options in New York City.
Whole restaurants can be dedicated to anything from mac and cheese to empanadas and from dumplings to cake balls. At Vive la Crêpe in SoHo, they are serving up some serious sweet AND savory crepes, and only crepes.
While I knew I would love any of the sweet ones (especially if they were filled with Nutella) I decided to try my first savory crepe for an afternoon snack. The Smoked Salmon offering caught my Lox bagel loving eye. Each crepe is made from scratch right in front of you, so you know you are getting a fresh batter and product. This one was filled with smoked salmon, plenty of cream cheese, spinach, and capers. I thought this would be a simple snack, but it turned out to be incredibly filling! Taste wise though, I was not as excited.
While all the right ingredients and flavors were there, I have to admit I was slightly underwhelmed by the crepe. The batter/crepe itself were flavorless and the spinach was difficult to tear apart and consume with the fold of the crepe. The cream cheese and salmon in the crepe were a bit more pleasing with a distinct taste that is incredibly important if you will advertise as a smoked salmon crepe. Personally I also realized salmon with the slight sweetness of the crepe batter and salty capers, does not mix so well for me. Maybe because I was expecting the same love as I have for the Lox bagel, this crepe itself left more to be desired as a meal or even snack.
Additionally, the wait time can near 30 minutes for one crepe, depending on how busy it is.
While a great NYC niche, paying nearly $10 for a crepe that leaves more to the imagination and appetite makes this specialty spot one OK to miss.
