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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 2015)
CREPE NEPTUNE T Quality ingredients in a novel delivery vehicle The secret of Crepe Neptune’s success is that there is no secret. You step up to the count- er, pick a crepe — either savory or sweet — and watch it cook on the circuOar À at top Eefore you. )irst, a thin Oayer of Eatter is spread across the cooktop surface. ,t is, as descriEed Ey co-owner Yuri 9idaO, a traditionaO recipe À our, eJJs, PiOk, Eutter. $s it EeJins to Eind, the crepe is À ipped, the top now Must ever-so-sOiJht- Oy Erowned. Then coPe the ¿ [inJs, and there are rarely too many of them — usually three or four, ¿ ve at most. They get spread and sprinkled aEout, and in the case of eggs or cheese, cooked or melted. $nd that’s aEout it. The now-spongy, wafter-thin crepe is folded in halves un- til it resemEles a triangular pocket sandwich — aEout the size of a pizza slice — and slid into a custom-made carrying case. $nd, voila, there you have it: Crepe Neptune. The process is two-fold and vaults most im- portantly from quality ingredients: fresh fruit and veggies, strong cheeses and the like; lit- tle else is necessary. Crepe Neptune’s second strength is a novel delivery vehicle. The hand- held crepe — in custom packaging that you peel away, layer Ey layer, as you go — is an enMoyaEle process. That said, it doesn’t wholly make up for the lack of a dining room; Crepe Neptune is essentially an ordering window, and consuming is largely done elsewhere. $nd, as anyone who’s spent a moment in the unpredict- aEle North Coast wind knows, outdoor dining isn’t always ideal. Crepe Neptune’s to-go con¿ guration is an e[tension of its roots. (ight years ago it Eegan as a cart. ,n that iteration, ef¿ ciency and deliv- ery Eecame paramount. Three years after that proof of concept, founders Maya and Yuri Vidal opened the shop in downtown Cannon Beach. Crepe Neptune offers around 20 different varieties, plus the opportunity to add ingredi- ents and essentially design your own crepe. The menu is split rather evenly Eetween sweet and savory. Many of the items, featuring geo- graphical monikers like the Cape Lookout and Haystack Rock, differ only slightly — particularly on the sweet side, which leans heavily on Nutella, Eanan- as, chocolate and whipped cream. The savory side af- fords more variety. , Eegan with the Cape Meares . 6erved steam- ing hot, a layer of scramEled eggs was more suggestive than plump. Thinner than the thin layers of spongy The handheld crepe — in custom packaging that you peel away, layer by layer, as you go — is an enjoyable process. An in-progress Twin Rocks crepe ($7) heats on Crepe Neptune’s circular cooktop. Twin Rocks features with Nutella, caramel and sea salt. crepe, the egg mingled humEly against Eright, fresh tomatoes and smooth goat cheese. Occa- sionally diced Malapexos deigned to holler out over the rest. $nother of the savory crepes , had — the Cannon Beach 0 — featured goat cheese, as well as ¿ gs and prosciutto. ,t was a spectacular Ealance, Eoth in À avors and te[ture.: the prosciut- to was rich and salty; the goat cheese smooth and mouth OF THE COLUMBIA COAST WEEKEND’S LOCAL RESTAURANT REVIEW Story and photos by THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA • mouth@coastweekend.com Crepe Neptune Rating: 175 E. Second St., Cannon Beach 503-436-9200 crepeneptune.com Crepe Neptune’s smoothies abound with bright, fresh fruits. 14 | October 8, 2015 | coastweekend.com HOURS: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. PRICE: $$ – Most crepes hover around $10, but one is usually more snack than full meal SERVICE: To-go, quick and courteous VEGETARIAN / VEGAN OPTIONS: Vegetarians will be happy, vegans not so much DRINKS: Espresso and smoothies cutting; the ¿ gs sweet, thick and supple. , also tried the Nehalem .0, which very much reminded of classic (uropean Euilding Elocks with an oily pesto, sharp toma- toes, Eread and mild Erie. , only wish the Erie would’ve spent a moment more on the À at to continue melting. )rom the sweet menu , daEEled in the Easic poles: the tartness of the fruits and the richness of the sugars. I found the fruits much prefera- Ele. That said, I’m no insatiaEle sweet tooth. The Cape )alcon, with strawEerries, lemon curd and a modicum of whipped cream was Eright enough to have in the morning without remorse. The Twin Rocks , with Nutella, caramel and sea salt, was another story. It was a light desert to-go and quite thin. Though it needed a touch more salt, when it leavened the sugars I nodded along. Crepe Neptune too offers espresso and smoothies. There’s little to say aEout the espres- so — it’s the standard — Eut the smoothies are divine: for they aEound, full of Eright, fresh fruits, not ice. $nd while for over 0 you could get a whole lot more food elsewhere — this is, after all, the Cannon Beach price — you won’t Ee lulled Eack to sleep at Crepe Neptune with their tasty little packages. KEY TO RATINGS poor below average good & worth returning excellent outstanding, the best in the Columbia-Pacific region
