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What's the best way to promote a fledgling coffee roasting business? You could pour free samples in Rittenhouse and hope La Colombe doesn't notice. Don a sandwich board and try to fit through the doorways of established cafés, sacks of beans in hand. Hire a PR firm to get all the espresso nerds salivating.
Or you could open your own coffee shop.
That's exactly what Jean-Luc Fanny, who's French by way of Cote d'Ivoire, has done with Cafe L'Aube ("the dawn"), a bright and cheery café that's taken over at the long-empty Jouvay Java spot at 1512 South Street. Open for about a month now, L'Aube serves as a neighborhood launching pad for Peregrine Coffee, the Tacony-area bespoke green bean roaster that Fanny (a statistician by trade) recently founded with Kevin Lawrence. (They specialize in single-order coffee beans roasted to order.)
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A joint venture with wife Fanny's wife Rachel, L'Aube has all the caffeine needs on lock, but there's also a surprisingly extensive selection of eats (click thumbnail for full menu). Savory crepe choices include ham, swiss and mushroom; gouda, turkey and herbs; and ham, mushroom and béchamel sauce. On the sweet side, try out brown sugar, Nutella and assorted fruit varieties. Croques monsieur and madame say bonjour, as well.
Yet another specialty: Brussels waffles, which are lighter and crisper by design than what people normally understand to be a Belgian waffle. L'Aube tops theirs with anything from fruit and honey to creme fraiche and chocolate. When I stopped in, Fanny shared loads of information on regional Euro waffle differences — did you know Brussels irons crank out 3-by-5 gridded waffles, whereas their thicker, heartier Liege counterparts (what Bonte serves) come 6-by-4? I did not know that. Start slinging fresh siroopwafelen and I'm moving into an apartment upstairs.
Café L'Aube, 1512 South St., 267-614-2109.
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