Markeshia Ricks Photo
Adil Chokairy cuts the ribbon on his latest New Haven eatery.
Adil Chokairy is hoping that if you’re famished before or after a busy day of shopping in the Broadway District, you’ll fuel up with a crêpe.
On Thursday, Chokairy, along with Yale University Properties and city officials, cut the ribbon on his newest eatery, a kiosk called Crêpes Choupette on the Broadway parking lot island. It is his third restaurant venture in the Elm City since he started selling crêpes from a bike-propelled cart back in 2014.
Chokairy and Yale Associate VP Lauren Zucker celebrate a fruitful partnership Thursday.
His latest venture is bigger than the bike cart he started with but a bit smaller than his other two restaurants on Whitney Avenue, Choupette Crêperie and the Swiss-inspired cheese restaurant Au Chalet. The new kiosk at 56 Broadway is uniquely positioned in the center of the Broadway District, with the new home of L.L. Bean rising across from it on Elm Street, and Patagonia and other stores positioned across from it on Broadway. This is his third lease with Yale Properties.
Nemerson at the ribbon cutting.
City Economic Development Administrator Matt Nemerson said what Yale and the city have achieved a retail mix in the Broadway District that you’re more likely to see in larger cities. He noted that Chokairy, who he joshed is building an “empire,” adds to the sophistication.
“When we think about New Haven, one of the things that we keep trying to educate people is that this is not a larger Branford. This is a smaller Boston,” Nemerson said. “And the only way that happens is by having the continued imagination to bring an Apple store, to bring in L.L. Bean, to bring a Patagonia.”
Viviana Pes sets out a feast of crêpes.
Chokairy demurred on whether or not he is building an empire.
“I don’t think it’s an empire,” he said. “I think it’s more pressure, and I didn’t achieve anything yet. Work is still ahead of me. I don’t want to disappoint.”