Wafels & Dinges Cafe – LOST GEM 2021
35th Street and 6th Avenue at Herald Square in front of Macy's, Waffle trucks throughout the city (locate them on twitter @waffletruck)
On the corner of 2nd Street and Avenue B, owner Thomas De-Geest opened the first brick-and-mortar Belgian waffle café in 2013 after having founded his business around a single yellow 1968 truck. When he quit his job as an IBM executive, Thomas had to answer a big question: “What do I want to do with the rest of my life?” Thomas found his answer in an idea in a conversation over three glasses of wine with friends: waffles.
In 2007, he bought his first waffle truck and brought his authentic Belgian waffles to the streets of Manhattan. At first, people were more inquisitive than receptive to his shabby 1968 food truck, but before long, Thomas had made a name for himself and the first Wafels & Dinges truck.
Fast-forward six years and Thomas and his new business partner – his wife – decide to open a store in their very own neighborhood so that they could be close to their first café. The husband and wife duo aim to keep their waffles as good as ever and their staff as friendly as ever. Wafels & Dinges prides itself on its craftsmanship – they still follow complex recipes and make all of their waffles of cast iron waffle irons to keep true to the Belgian tradition.
What they’re trying to do, Thomas said, is not be part of a fad. What they are making is full of heritage and, he hopes, long-lasting.