This week I got to sit down with CupcakeStop's founder, Lev Ekster, at the new flagship shop at 70 Greenwich Avenue. In eighteen months CupcakeStop has quickly blossomed from a mobile truck to being a New York City favorite with several brick and mortar locations (including a stand in Limelight Marketplace and a shop in New Jersey). The Greenwich Avenue shop is cute and welcoming with seating and an exposed brick wall. Several cupcake flavors are available as well as brownies, muffins, and more.
NearSay: By now everybody is familiar with your story of coming from a law background and starting CupcakeStop as a result of the economic downturn. Did you bake as a hobby before this?
Lev Ekster: I didn't, but despite my looks [Lev is a thin guy] I am an experienced taster and like to eat out a lot. That and seeing how prevalent cupcake culture is in New York got me inspired. There were so many cupcakes available, but I wasn't really impressed with their quality. I wanted to have cupcakes that were high quality and baked from scratch, no dry mix. In 2009 there weren't as many chic or upscale food trucks and brick and mortar was prohibitively expensive. So I started the first cupcake truck in New York. Currently we have two vending trucks and one delivery truck as well as the shops in Montclair, N.J., a stall at Limelight Marketplace, and this shop on Greenwich Avenue. The cupcakes are baked in Montclair by International Culinary Center and French Culinary Institute trained bakers. We've been shipping nationwide since April 2010.
NearSay: One of the things I'm impressed with is the huge flavor selection with options such as Funfetti, Fluffernutter, and Sweet Potato Pie. Do you have brainstorming sessions for the flavors?
Lev: There are many determining factors – we use suggestions from our talented bakers, I could be inspired by a dessert or candy I've tried like an Almond Joy for example. We also have a suggestion box on our website. A major influence is seasonality. We prefer to use local and seasonal ingredients, so for instance our 'Starry Night' – a flavor suggested by a customer – is lemon cake with blueberry frosting made with fresh ingredients.
NearSay: Are there any new flavors in the works?
Lev: I can't give you any details right now, but we do have some flavors planned for Valentine's Day!
NearSay: What is your favorite flavor?
Lev: Right now it's Triple Chocolate, a Devil's Food Cake with semisweet chocolate frosting, drizzled with white chocolate.
NearSay: What's the most popular flavor?
Lev: Red Velvet, Funfetti, and Vanilla Chocolate are very popular. We always keep those in stock even though we have regular flavor rotations. After we won the Food Network Food Feuds with a French Toast Bacon cupcake, that was the most popular for a while, but we've retired it since we're in the process of being certified kosher. We still do a French Toast cupcake though.
NearSay: You've expanded from a truck to brick and mortar shops. Did any differences surprise you about the daily workings of a brick and mortar shop?
Lev: More consistency when it comes to weather. We're not at the mercy of the elements, and it's easier to plan how many cupcakes we would need to sell in a day.
NearSay: You're in the West Village with other famed cupcake places and bakeries like Magnolia, Amy's Bread, and Sweet Revenge. Is there something about this neighborhood that makes it extra friendly for sweets?
Lev: Mag-who? (laughs) I really like this area. I like how friendly the locals are, you almost forget you're in New York! People are loyal here and they don't want chain stores. They like supporting local businesses. When I was looking at this area, people were advising against it, since the hospital closed a bunch of local places went out of business. But we haven't had any issues and I think we fit in really well here.
NearSay: Is there anything else on the horizon for CupcakeStop that you want to tell us about?
Lev: Just looking straight ahead, focusing on CupcakeStop and what's best for our customers and our product. I'm learning more every day about retail and tell our workers to prioritize each customer as if they are the only one. We're starting to get to know our local customers and what they like to order every day.
Check out CupcakeStop's website and follow them on Twitter.
CupcakeStop's new flagship store is located at 70 Greenwich Avenue, near 7th Avenue.
CupcakeStop's Limelight Marketplace location is located at 47 West 20th Street, at the corner of 6th Avenue, 1st Floor.
