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Cupcake Truck Hits New York City

By Mythili Rao CNN         

NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York City is about to get a brand new street vendor with a sweet twist.         

Watch out Mister Softee, the new kid on the block is a dessert truck which is calling itself "New York's first mobile cupcake shoppe."         

"This is a perfect addition to New York City's mobile vendors," Lev Ekster, Cupcake Stop's founder told CNN.         

Six months ago, Ekster was a student spending long hours at the library in preparation for a legal career. But when the economic crisis dimmed the New York Law School graduate's prospects of securing a full-time position with a firm, he turned to another passion: Entrepreneurship.         

As an undergraduate at Ithaca College, Ekster started a party promotion company to boost campus social life, hiring classmates to be DJs, promoters and bouncers. And while in law school, he founded a website where students could find law school resources.         

On one of many law school study breaks at a downtown bakery, Ekster found inspiration for his next project. "He asked, 'Why can't a cupcake come to me?' " Cupcake Stop's spokeswoman Marie Assante told CNN.         

Ekster said that the long lines outside the West Village's Magnolia Bakery drove home the fact that cupcakes are in high demand in NYC.          

"This is a mobile city where everyone's always on the go," Ekster told CNN. "I thought, 'Let's come to them.' "         

After obtaining vendor permits and taste-testing nearly 1,000 cupcakes, Ekster set up a truck, hired a chef, and set up shop.         

Cupcake Stop's inaugural event was a private party for Jill Zarin of Real Housewives of New York last Tuesday at Hudson Terrace. On the drive back from the event, "People were literally chasing the truck through Times Square," Ekster said.         

The truck will be conducting a test drive to survey locations on Friday in preparation for its June 3rd public debut, during which the first 500 visitors will be given free mini-cupcakes.         

Cupcake Stop plans to donate leftover cupcakes to City Harvest, a charity which redistributes unused food from New York City restaurants and vendors to the homeless.

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