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
