It's dark, and raindrops are falling fast. Worse yet, I'm walking without an umbrella or rain boots along Water Street, near the Downtown Mall, and the cars that drive by splash muddy puddles of water onto my already-soaked jeans. Then, I see a queue of umbrellas leading out of a small window, past a black waist-high fence and onto the sidewalk. As I approach the fence, the aroma of crêpes wafting through the air lures me away from the protective covered walkway up the street, to add to the umbrella line. There, in the light of a single lamppost, I can make out the simple yellow and green sign, reading, "The Flat."
The Flat itself is an annex to the back of the Jefferson Theater and sits between the Commerce Building and Live Arts. Its European-style décor invites one to imagine stepping into a tiny café somewhere in Paris, away from the alleyways and drab, colorless buildings of the Downtown Mall. On this picturesque patio-type setting, a person jots down your order at the window on a small blue Post-it and hands it to one of the crêpe-makers within, while you wait to the side for your name to be called. If you look into the window, you can see the crêpe-makers making yours right in front of you
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