Café e Dolci

Crepes, Gelato and Illy Coffee at Café e Dolci Franklin NJ

The gelato case is the first thing most people notice, roughly two dozen trays of house-made gelato and sorbet under glass, a few steps from the griddle where crepe batter gets spread thin and folded to order. Café e Dolci Franklin NJ runs an Italian coffee house and a full sweet-and-savory kitchen out of the same small storefront in the Route 23 shopping plaza, which catches out anyone who walks in expecting a place that just pours coffee. Proprietor Debbie Yodice built a menu that stretches from an 8am espresso to a sit-down dinner, and the kitchen handles both ends of it.

What to Order

The Savory Side

Crepes are the signature. The Jersey folds Taylor ham, egg and cheese into a breakfast crepe, and the Franklin does bacon, spinach and Swiss. Later in the day the list moves to pesto chicken with gruyere and arugula, smoked salmon with capers and cream cheese, and the Victoria with breaded eggplant, mozzarella and roasted pepper. There are gourmet omelettes, croissant sandwiches, quiche by the slice (whole ones need advance notice), and salads built on spinach and arugula. The coffee is Illy, poured straight or worked through a full espresso bar.

The Sweet Side

This is where the name earns itself. Dolci means sweets, and the list runs long: Nutella crepes with banana and strawberry, the Appennini Apple Pie with cinnamon crumble and gelato, cannoli crunch, bubble waffles, edible cookie dough, acai and pitaya bowls, and gelato shakes stacked well past the rim of the glass. Mike’s Fleight puts four gelato or sorbet flavors in one frozen flight dish, which is the honest way to settle an argument at the table.

Planning Your Visit

The cafe opens at 8am every day, closes at 8pm Monday through Thursday, stays open to 9pm Friday and Saturday, and shuts early at 4pm on Sunday. Parking is the shared plaza lot, so it stays easy even at peak brunch. There is outdoor seating in warm weather, and pickup and delivery run through the cafe’s online ordering page. It works well as a stop before or after a morning at the Franklin Mineral Museum, and as a warm-up for skiers heading south from Mountain Creek in Vernon. If you’re working through other places to eat in Franklin or cafes across Sussex County, put this one on the list.