Our Story

In 1943, the U.S. Navy launched a ship originally christened Royal Palm. By December of that year she was renamed USS Cinnamon (AN-50) — a net-laying vessel assigned to the South Pacific.

She wasn’t a submarine. She was something quieter: a ship that strung underwater nets to protect harbors from enemy torpedoes.

Nico Aretakis’s great-uncle, Petty Officer Elias “Lee” Aretakis, served aboard the Cinnamon. When the family cleared out his apartment in 1998, they found a cigar box containing a faded crew photo, letters, and a small bag of cinnamon sticks Lee had picked up in the Philippines — still fragrant after fifty years.

When Nico and his partner Margot were looking for a name for their dessert shop, Nico said: “What about the Cinnamon Submarine?” Margot laughed. “It wasn’t even a submarine.” “Exactly,” Nico said. “That’s what makes it perfect.”

The story became family legend. And when Nico and his partner Margot went looking for a name for their dessert shop — something with warmth, something with a story, something a little playful — Nico said: “What about the Cinnamon Submarine?”

Margot laughed. “It wasn’t even a submarine.”

“Exactly,” Nico said. “That’s what makes it perfect.”

"What about the Cinnamon Submarine?"

"It wasn't even a submarine."

"Exactly. That's what makes it perfect."

From the memorial corner

Lee's bag of cinnamon sticks sits behind museum glass near the host stand, beside a framed photo of the AN-50 crew and a hand-lettered card telling the story.

The Founders

Nico & Margot

Nico Aretakis — 31

Pastry · Plating · Quiet

Greek-American, raised in Astoria, Queens. Studied architecture at Cooper Union before falling sideways into restaurants — four years as a pastry cook at Estela, then sous-pastry at Olmsted. Designs all the plating. Keeps a small brass compass on the counter that belonged to Great-Uncle Lee. Has a cinnamon-stick tattoo on his inner forearm.

Margot Voss — 29

Tea · Ceramics · Warmth

Half-Korean, half-German, raised in Ridgewood. Studied ceramics at Pratt and pivoted to tea after a summer apprenticeship in Kyoto. Certified tea sommelier. Built the entire tea program from scratch and threw every cup and plate on the wheel herself — blush and terracotta, slightly irregular, the way they should be.

They met at a mutual friend's dinner party in Bushwick in 2021. By 2023, they had a concept. By early 2025, they had a lease. The Cinnamon Submarine opened its doors on September 12, 2025.