The Skinny Pancake expands to the state capital — New York’s, that is

ALBANY, NEW YORK – A Vermont-grown crepe-maker is taking its biggest out-of-state leap yet, into the capital city of our much-larger neighbor to the west.

What is the place?

Diners in northern Vermont are well aware of what The Skinny Pancake does. The small chain of eateries began with a food cart on Church Street in Burlington almost 20 years ago, followed by the first brick-and-mortar incarnation near Waterfront Park in 2007. Ensuing restaurants have opened at Burlington International Airport and the University of Vermont as well as Montpelier, Quechee, two in Stowe and the new one across the Vermont border in Albany, New York.

Menus vary from site to site, but the basic Skinny Pancake template has breakfast options such as the Early Riser (two cage-free eggs and Cabot cheddar in a crepe) and the Blueberry Frumple Cake, a sweet crepe topped with Vermont blueberry compote. Savory lunch and dinner choices might feature the Lumberjack (ham and Cabot cheddar) and the Johnny Crepe, filled with maple pulled pork, caramelized onions and cheddar cheese in a cornmeal crepe with a side of coleslaw.

The sweet crepe selection typically includes the PBB & Bee, a peanut butter/banana/honey concoction, and the Choco Monkey, which puts banana and chocolate-hazelnut spread together. Non-crepe options could feature salads, poutine and burgers geared toward young diners.

In Albany, the beer list skews more toward New York brews than Vermont beer, and the soundtrack isn’t so much Vermont jam rock as classic rock with bands such as The Who, Fleetwood Mac and Boston.

What’s the story behind it?

The Skinny Pancake has expanded outside of Vermont only once before, into the small college town of Hanover, New Hampshire, just across the Connecticut River. According to director of marketing Michael Cyr, that restaurant shut down before COVID-19 arrived with plans to reopen in another site there, though that’s unlikely now more than two years since the pandemic began.

Cyr said The Skinny Pancake has been feeling the need to grow beyond Vermont’s borders. “If our mission is to get more local food in more people’s hands, Vermont has a limited population, that’s no secret,” he said. “We saw downtown (Albany) as more of an opportunity to do more of that.”

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The Albany metro area, Cyr said, has a population of 1.5 million, more than double the state of Vermont. The Albany site just off busy North Pearl Street is “smack dab in the middle” of two large concert venues, the MVP Arena and the Palace Theatre. A music club called Empire Live opened in the neighborhood a few months ago.

The Albany location is also a short walk from the state capitol building and various state-office complexes. When The Skinny Pancake opened its new restaurant in December, state employees were not working downtown because of the pandemic, but now that they are Cyr said assistant judges and members of the New York State Assembly are suddenly following the company on Twitter.

“It’s been quite notable,” he said.

There are other differences as well between the Vermont restaurants and the Albany location. “Where do you even start?” Cyr said. “I think size is the biggest thing.” That’s both good and bad — a larger, more-diverse audience to draw from, but Cyr said more people also brings more bureaucracy, as it takes three times as long to get a sign permit and five times as long to get a liquor license in New York as in Vermont.

Albany, though, has business-improvement districts with employees who are offering free marketing assistance, helping The Skinny Pancake get grants for an outdoor patio and “are just your champions on legislative levels and so many other ways.”

Cyr said customers in Albany are “more tech-appreciative” and use the QR codes at their tables to access menus on their phones more frequently than their Vermont counterparts. The clientele in Albany is a mix of urban, suburban, state employees and blue-collar workers, bringing “more diversity in every way,” according to Cyr.

He said Albany has made The Skinny Pancake feel welcome. “There’s certainly a civic-mindedness there,” Cyr said, noting that many people have told The Skinny Pancake “Thanks for investing here.”

Hours and location of The Skinny Pancake

The Skinny Pancake, 1 Steuben St., Albany, New York. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. (518) 512-0182, www.skinnypancake.com/locations/albany

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at [email protected]. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: The Skinny Pancake expands to Albany, New York