For anyone that thinks that crepes should get their own spot on the food pyramid, Café 17 is the perfect spot for a crepe enthusiast. Café 17 is “named for it’s location in New Paltz on 17 Church Street.” Though the café has a variety of crepes on the menu, they also have various salads, sandwiches and breakfast items. Manager of Café 17, Sage Profita-Schoonbeck, gave me the inside scoop on the café and an inside view of the magic behind the glory that is the crepe.
Café 17 serves an array of crepes including steak-filled crepes, veggie options and various dessert crepes.
“Our crepe batter is made in-house from scratch,” Profita-Schoonbeck said. “It’s poured onto a special flat circular stove plate. Then using a T-shaped utensil to swirl batter around evenly into a thin circular shape. The crepe is then stuffed with ingredients, folded into a triangle and served.”
Café 17 offers both sweet and savory crepes, including fan favorites “Best Of Friends” crepe and “The Athens” crepe. “Best Of Friends” includes Nutella, strawberries, banana, powdered sugar, chocolate drizzle and whipped cream. Their most popular savory crepe is the “Athens” it includes sauteed greens, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, house-made hummus, topped with house-made Harissa sauce, feta cheese, black olives, tomato and pumpkin seeds.
This week, I had the chance to try “The Athens.” I have never had a savory crepe before, but “The Athens” was too hard to pass up. And coming in at only $6.95, it was a price I couldn’t resist either. Gorgeously presented to me with sprinkled feta cheese and pumpkin seeds, I was in savory crepe heaven. This crepe was massive. The house-made hummus was creamy and slightly nutty, while the sweet peppers and greens were a perfect pairing. And to top it all off, the housemade Harissa sauce was something to write home about.
Café 17, besides making delicious crepes, is also friendly to the environment.
“We are using about 70 percent sustainable products and we are aiming for a much higher percentage in the next month or so,” Profita-Schoonbeck said. “We also recycle.”
Furthermore, Profita-Schoonbeck talked about how she has been there since the beginning.
“Jack Gordon is the owner of Café 17, I started off helping him clean and renovate the space and have worked my way up to Manager and Head Chef,” Profita-Schoonbeck said. “Like I said we are currently renovating a larger dining room.”
New and exciting things are also happening at Café 17.
“Our breakfast and lunch menu will stay the same as well as the prices, but we will also be adding a dinner menu, beer and wine,” Profita-Schoonbeck said. “We are hoping to be ready for dinner in the next month.”
Café 17 is can be found on cafe17newpaltz.com
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